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mrsseverussnape · 3 years ago

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Love Is You - chapter 28/final

a/n: And we came to the final chapter... I hope you liked the journey with Scarlett. Give her a gift and share your final thoughts about her or the fanfiction❤️🌹🐾

It has been 7 months since Scarlett and Severus moved into Scarlett’s retirement house in Naxos. Severus has retired after he found out about Scarlett’s illness because he wanted to spend all of his time with Scarlett. Scarlett hasn’t wanted him to do that sacrifice for her but Severus was persistent. When they moved to Naxos in June, first couple of weeks passed with decorating the house; their choice of decoration style was a mix of coastal and Greek. After the decoration was done, Scarlett needed to accomplish her other retirement dream which was buying ducklings! Severus reconciled Scarlett that buying only 2 ducklings is enough. She has wanted more but they ended up buying a yellow one and a Rouen one. Scarlett named the Rouen one “Cookie” since it has dark spots and looked like a chocolate chip cookie, yellow one was Severus’s to name and he named it “Milky” just to go with cookie and milk theme. Luckily, Scarlett’s cat Athena got along with the ducklings and they all became the cutest trio ever.

Scarlett and Severus had times of their lives during the whole summer in Naxos. They went to swimming, discovered every corner of the island, had long walks and many more; but their favourite activity to do together was sailing with their small boat and reading books middle of the sea. They believed that either island’s weather or those activities helped to ease Scarlett’s illness a bit. She wasn’t having heart aches or pains frequently and she has passed out only couple of times during the summer. She got even better when Carina and Leo came to visit her time to time. Scarlett wanted to spend rest of the year in Naxos too, they went to London for 2 weeks in September for Scarlett’s yearly check-up and to visit her parents and Carina since she was took Severus’s job after him. When they came back to the island, it was calmer than before since the summer season has ended and all the tourists were back at their countries. They liked it better that way and enjoyed the silence of the island. Everything was going good and well until November arrived. Like how trees lose their leaves in fall, Scarlett started to lose her health. Now she was waking up nauseous every morning and the moment she got off the bed dizziness was adding to it as a plus, some days she wasn’t able to eat anything whole day because of that. In addition to this her blackouts became more frequently, and she would faint regularly. Somedays Scarlett would be in such a bad mood and cry her eyes out until she fell asleep. These days were the worst ones for Severus, he would try his best to calm her down and ease her pain but after Scarlett fell asleep, Severus would go by the sea and cry there all by himself.

Last week of November, Scarlett insisted to invite her children, her parents and Sirius to Naxos; saying that she wants to see them one last time. Those words stabbed Severus in the heart, and they had a small argument over it because Severus wanted her to believe that nothing will happen to her. But in the end Severus sent patronus messages to all of them, explaining the situation a bit. Scarlett haven’t said anything about her illness to anyone still. When they got Severus’s message, all was panicked and couldn’t understand what happened to her so suddenly. Her parents and Sirius apparated there in the same day with the message, Carina and Leo came in the night of the same day. Severus explained them her illness beforehand which did lead to an argument between them, they were angry that Severus hasn’t said anything to them until this day even in secret from Scarlett. But in the end, they all realized that arguing won’t help anything and it was time to see Scarlett. She wasn’t able to get out of the bed, so all went to see her in the bedroom. She was sleeping in the dark blue sheets which made her to look even paler than usual, her hair colour was the only lively thing on her at the moment.

Ricardus went over to his only daughter and woke her up by kissing her cheek softly. “Wake up princess...”

“Dad...” Scarlett looked at him sleepily and tried to sit up. “You came.” When she realized all the people she wanted to see was in the room, her sad eyes sparkled with happiness. “You all came!”

“Of course we did mummy!” Carina jumped on the bed to snuggle her.

“Be careful Carrie.” Leo warned her, he was extremely tense since he found out about his mother’s condition. Leo was the mummy’s boy since birth and he adored Scarlett in every way. Possibility of losing her was killing him.

“It’s fine Leo, come join us baby.” Scarlett held a shaky hand out for Leo who happily accepted it and snuggled into his mother too.

The air of the room was unexplainable, everybody’s eyes had a sad expression when their lips were forced into a smile. They were trying to have a cheerful day just to make Scarlett happy but deep down all of them was crying internally. Especially Sirius, he was very silent. He was blaming himself for what happened to his Scarlett, he has put so much stress and pressure on her because of the fuckery they have been through. He had one job; protect his family and keep it together but he has failed terribly. Sirius shook these thoughts off and turned his attention back to Scarlett. They all took some photos together and talked for hours. Scarlett hasn’t been that happy for a long time, she even ate some food with them. Her happiness calmed everybody down for a bit.

The twins and Sirius have taken couple of days off from work so everybody would stay at the island. Severus was helping them to make the beds in the living room and the guest room, their house wasn’t that big so Ric and Aurelia would stay in the guest room while Sirius and the twins were sharing the living room. While they were on this, Scarlett wanted to talk with Sirius privately. Sirius went back to the bedroom where Scarlett was and sat next to her; silver eyes met with the forest green ones for the first time in a while.

“Siri...”

“Yes kitten.” He smiled softly at her.

“I want you to promise me one thing.”

“What is it?”

“When... when i am gone, please take care of Carina and Leo also yourself. I want to make sure that you all will be just as fine even i am not with you here no more...”

“No no no, don’t say such things. I don’t wanna hear those, Scarlett.” Sirius held her hand tightly and kissed her knuckles. “We will see our kids’ weddings and have grandchildren; we will be the coolest grandparents! Where do you think you are going without doing any of these!?” Sirius joked but his eyes were filled with tears, he was having hard time while trying not to cry.

Scarlett’s lips trembled while the tears were running down on her cheeks. Her heart broke thinking that she won’t be able to see any of these events Sirius just said. “Don’t buy little motorbikes to our grandchildren for their first birthday.” Scarlett joked trying to change the mood.

“Ah damn, i was just thinking that!” Sirius laughed but shortly his laughter turned into sobs. He snuggled into Scarlett who was halfway laying, she wrapped one arm around him while playing with his hair with the other hand. This was the way how Sirius copes with sadness, he would rest his head on either Scarlett’s chest or lap and let her to play with his hair until he was calm again. But this time Scarlett cried with him too, they poured out all the sadness they held inside.

“My lawyer will give keys to each of you when i d... you know; i prepared 4 trunks with the things i want to give you, the twins and Severus. They are in the basement of my house. When the time comes, take them okay...?”

Sirius didn’t answer her question but instead he held onto her even more. Scarlett sighed but knew he would do what she asked him to do. She looked down at Sirius who was laying next to her, head rested on her chest. “I want you to know that, i was so happy with you and i didn’t have any regrets. I think our friendship and marriage were more than just decent, they were perfectly splendid. I loved you very much Sirius Orion Black, i still do.”

Sirius finally looked up at her face, his cheeks were wet from the tears he shed; he sat up slowly. “Scarlett Serafina Rose, i love you more and always will. You are the best thing ever happened to me. I am so so so sorry for all the times i made you sad, none of them were intentional... You are my one and only.” Without a thought, Sirius closed the gap between their faces and pressed his lips into hers. Familiar feeling of 26 years filled them but this kiss was different; it was a farewell kiss and both of them knew it. Their tears mixed into the kiss and Sirius couldn’t take it anymore; he run out of the room crying.

Severus came to their bedroom soon after he saw Sirius run outside. “How are you Scar?” He asked while changing into his pyjamas.

“Good, i guess...?” She had a weird feeling whole day since her loved ones came but she couldn’t understand what; it was like she was cured in a day.

Severus turned off the lights before came to bed, but Scarlett turned on their bedside lights immediately. Severus raised his eyebrows, Scarlett hated to sleep in a lighted room even it was just a tinniest light. She noticed his confusion and explained. “I wanna see you...”

“Why is that love? Did you miss me?” Severus hugged her and kissed her tear-stained cheek.

“I will miss you...”

Severus was about to ask her what she meant but before he could, Scarlett kissed him passionately. This took Severus by surprise; since Scarlett’s illness got worse, the only intimate moments they shared were soft and slow kisses. She slowly pulled away and whispered into his ear. “You are my first, my last and my everything. I will keep your love evermore, Severus. I love you.”

Severus was used to Scarlett’s regular farewell talks by now and he hated them because they just hurt him even more but that felt different. When Scarlett looked into his night-like eyes, he got lost in hers; Severus always loved how big and meaningful her eyes were.

“Tell me you love me...” Scarlett’s whisper brought him back to reality.

“I love you more than anything in the whole wide world Scarlett, you know that. You are my luck.” Severus kissed her one last time. Scarlett rested onto his chest then he started to sing their song “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” to put her to sleep while playing with her hair. Her eyes closed slowly and she dived into a peaceful sleep.

The next day a shriek woke everyone up; it was raining cats and dogs with loud thunders. The weather simply reflected everyone’s feelings about today. They were planning to stay couple of days more but they changed the plan and took Scarlett to London with them. London days weren’t any different, they were gloomy and smothery. Severus wanted to turn back to Naxos for Scarlett’s birthday, they have decided on celebrating it there this year and he wanted to make it happen.

Severus was listening to a slow music from the record player and drinking some wine when his eyes caught the window, it was snowing for the first time this year in the island. Severus smiled happily thinking that Scarlett’s usual birthday wish was happening. Since it was midnight and officially her birthday, he ran up to their bedroom to wake her up and let her know about the snow. When he walked into the room, Scarlett was already awake in their bed. She was looking like a snow angel in her white satin sleeping gown, Severus grinned at her while moving the curtains aside.

“Surprise! Just how you wished for your birthday, love.”

“I haven’t wished for snow this year, i have only wished to be able to celebrate it...”

“We can start celebrations right now if you want, it passed midnight. Happy 56 my love!”

Scarlett didn’t respond to him; she was staring at him rather sorrowfully. He leaned against the wall behind him to support himself.

“I am not here, all of this happening in your head Severus...”

Severus shook his head while whispering “no” constantly.

“I died that night in your arms... It was your scream to wake everyone up in the following morning... You all took me to London for my funeral...”

“STOP! Please stop...”

Severus cried out while sliding down on wall to the floor. He buried his face into his palms and cried his heart out. When he calmed down, he kissed Scarlett’s promise ring which he was wearing on his pinkie now.

“I love you Scarlett... We will meet again…”

A/n: ahhh this final chapter always makes me cry😭 i don’t know why i wrote it like that…

Taglist:

@snapefiction @lizlil @elizabeth-baelish @misselsbells06 @mais-e @lunnybunny12 @anfre109 @entirelymesmerising @wolvesofwinter13 @mrssnivellussnape @mestin-writes @echoofawind @pamelalur15 @myamortentia

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justfangirlthingies · 4 years ago

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Talking to the Moon (Billy Hargrove)

Another songfic. This one is based on "Talking to the Moon" by Bruno Mars

Word count: 2049 words

Warnings: a swear word I think?, mentions of death, description of death, this is basically fueled by angst, sad, mental illness I guess (I think that's it), allusions to sex

I may or may not have made myself cry while writing this

"I know you're somewhere out there" you whispered as you were seated in your driveway, leaning against a car, long abandoned. His car.

Denial. That's what one could call your situation. Struck with grief and pain, yet still not recognizing it.

"Somewhere far away, but that's okay I'll find you or maybe you'll find me." A sad smile traced your lips as your eyes began to water. You gazed at the starry night sky, the moon, shining as bright as ever, illuminating your frame.

You couldn't accept it. And why would you? Just to have your world shutter to pieces before your feet? No thanks!

"I want you back,"

It never happened. Not as long as you refused to believe it. It just had to be some cruel joke. IT HAD TO BE!

Slowly flashes of memories invaded your thoughts and unfolded before your eyes. The way he sacrificed himself in order to save all of you. The way he was impaled from all directions by the beast and how his blood soaked the white tank top he had been wearing that evening. The way his limp body dropped to the floor. How he just laid there unconscious in a puddle of of his own blood. How they had to drag you and Max away from his body, but you wouldn't budge. "No Billy! BILLY! Come on! D-don't do this to me! You can't just leave me here like that!" In that moment you either wanted him to wake up or to just lie down and leave this place with him, but you couldn't do that to your family and friends. And to think that fateful day was your anniversary as well. You quickly pushed your thoughts and trauma to the back of your mind.

"I want you back Billy, please just come back home." Slowly the silent tears started escaping your eyes.

A hand pat your shoulder causing your features to flash with hope. Yet, it wasn't him. "Come on you gotta go back inside" It was just your little brother. The hopeful glimmer in your eyes vanished as you slowly got up. "I know... I know" You muttered and when you had made it to the front door you glanced at the old car again, wiping at your face to dry the tears.

"(Y/n) do you wanna watch a movie or maybe meet up with the gang? They miss you." Your face contorted to one of agony and you flinched at the mention of the kids and some of your friends. However, you quickly tried to mask it up and flashed your brother a smile "Sorry Dustin, those are your friends I'm just your babysitter. Have fun though." You ruffled his hair and just like that you left your little brother standing in the hallway as you made a beeline for your bedroom.

▪︎

My neighbors think I'm crazy. But they don't understand

Whenever you left the house you got weird or pitiful looks thrown in your direction. It was no wonder you stopped leaving the house. And quite honestly, you were beginning to feel better. You felt better, not because you finally accepted the decision fate had made, but rather because you started to drift off. Reminiscing about the good times and creating your own little world in your head where everything was just fine. Or maybe you were just feeling numb by now...

"You're all I had, you're all I had and you're all I'd ever need" you mumbled to yourself and to the night sky.

At night, when the stars light up my room. I sit by myself. Talking to the moon

You often sat on your windowsill as you told him all that happened on each day. Sometimes you'd rant about your job. Other times you'd ask him questions and beg him to come back to you.

Trying to get to you. In hopes you're on the other side, talking to me too

Could he even hear you? See you? Know you were trying to contact him somehow? If the upside down was real, then so was the chance he might be out there somewhere, right? It was a desparate last glimmer of hope you had left.

"Or am I a fool, who sits alone, talking to the moon? Maybe I am..." Oh

▪︎

I'm feeling like I'm famous, the talk of the town.

Of course you noticed the people watching you and talking about you behind your back. They say I've gone mad. Apparently they had nothing better to do than talk about you.

Yeah, I've gone mad. But they don't know what I know

One night when you were rambling into the night you heard his voice.

'Cause when the sun goes down, someone's talking back.

It was faint at first, but it got louder and steadier and sounded more like him.

Yeah, they're talking back, oh. At night, when the stars light up my room

And that was when hope returned to you. You left your room less and less, your family and friends growing more worried with each passing day. They barely got to see you.

I sit by myself. Talking to the moon

You didn't even notice how you neglected your needs.

Trying to get to you

You were too busy talking to him. Too busy to eat or sleep. To anxious that he'd be gone again if you left for too long.

In hopes you're on the other side, talking to me too

Your family was at their wits end. They didn't know how they could help you. But you didn't think you needed help. You had Billy and that was all that mattered to you.

Or am I a fool, who sits alone, talking to the moon?

Slowly your brain had repressed the trauma, leaving it on the threshold between consciousness and unconsciousness. The images of the distressing and traumatizing memories only appearing in your sleep. In your nightmare plagued sleep.

Do you ever hear me calling? (Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah) Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh. 'Cause every night, I'm talking to the moon

They were just nightmares, nothing more. After all he was here. What did you need sleep for when you could be awake and talk to Billy

Still trying to get to you

You had gotten lost in your own fantasy. A different reality where your boyfriend was still alive. Where he was still his usual cocky, jealous overprotective, but loving self, the one you fell in love with.

In hopes you're on the other side, talking to me too

Today was your anniversary. You dressed up nicely and left your room for the first time in forever. Describing your family as shocked when you left your room, went to grab a shopping basket and put on your shoes was an understatement. You flashed a bright smile at them when you saw them. "(Y/n)? What's got you in such a good mood? Are you going out?" Your mother was a little worried about your sudden change in demeanor, but quickly pushed those doubts aside. She was delighted at how happy you seemed. She didn't want to see in what bad shape you were, didn't want to notice how weird that smile looked on your exhausted posture or how that smile didn't actually reach your glassed over, dull (e/c) eyes. Eyes that shone bright with love, hope and life once. She didn't want to realize that you were just a shell of yourself.

What she did notice though, was the effort you put into looking nice today and that you actually wanted to leave your room and even the house.

"Yes mum, of course I'm in a good mood!" you exclaimed, you almost seemed like you were in some kind of trance. "It's our anniversary today. I'll go buy a few things to surprise Billy with his favourite dish for when he comes over later" and just like that you were out the door. Leaving your mother with confusion and worry written all over her face. Dustin had noticed the whole ordeal, however he did not choose to blatantly ignore your change in behaviour. "I have an idea, I know someone who might be able to help." Just like that your brother had left through the front door, sprinting to his friend's home.

▪︎

Or am I a fool, who sits alone,

You had spent your afternoon cooking and baking for your boyfriend. You prepared everything, now all you had to do was wait for him.

talking to the moon? Oh

A grin made itself prominent on your face as you thought about your favourite anniversary, the one three years ago. The weather was nice and Billy took you to the fun fair that just happened to be in town. He kept you close to him and would've punched anyone who laid their eyes on you for too long if you hadn't stopped him. "Don't worry, I'm only yours Hargrove" you beamed at him with delight in your eyes as you pressed a tender kiss to his cheek. After that he won you a stuffed animal and you got some cotton candy together.

"I love you, you know that right? I'll stay by your side forever you'll see. And I'll never leave you, like my asshole of a father left my mum, I promise. The two of us, we'll stay together for eternity" The blonde told you that evening when you were in bed, snuggled up cozily together after he had shown you just how much he loved you in every possible way. You moved your head which was resting on his naked chest slightly so you could properly look at him. His eyes held so much love, passion, adoration and tenderness for you in them and you knew yours did too "Forever huh?" you grinned as he brushed a strand of hair out of your face. You could feel his fingers trace patterns on your back and arms as his strong arms pulled you impossibly closer to his body, the scent of his cologne engulfing you. "You better keep that promise then because I love you too." A cocky smirk appeared on his face and there was a short pause, a comfortable silence, as you pondered "Billy?" The boy hummed in response, his fingers still caressing your soft skin. "Can you promise to show me the beaches in Cali someday as well?" You felt your boyfriends chest vibrating as he chuckled softly "I think that I can manage (Y/n)" That's how you drifted off to sleep that night.

"(Y/n)..." a soft voice cautiously brought you back to your reality. "It's been three years." Your eyes were wide as you found yourself face to face with Maxine Mayfield, Billy's half-sister. He always acted like he hated it when someone called them siblings, when in reality he didn't mind at all. He loved his sister, he just had a special way of showing it. "What are you doing here? And what are you even talking about?" A smile was on your face. "As much as I love our silly little talks Max, I must advice you leave. Billy will come home any minute now and you know how he can get when he has plans and you appear out of nowhere." a giggle left your throat. As you spoke your eyes started swimming with tears. Why? You didn't know.

"(Y/n) listen to me. Billy died three years ago today, he's not gonna come to your anniversary. You just made up that he's still here with you because you couldn't handle his death. Not with how brutal it was." Tears were now pouring from your eyes as you shook your head. Realization dawning on you. "No...that-that's not true" you said, your voice cracking halfway. "Three-three years ago he took me to the funfair and-" you stopped mid sentence as the images from your nightmares unraveled before you. Max pulled you into her embrace and you hugged her back immediately, your whole body racking with sobs. The redhead also shed a few tears, not only because of her dead brother but also because of the state you were in. "I know, I know..." she soothed you

I know you're somewhere out there.

Somewhere far away...

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teamhook · 4 years ago

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Finding Hope :: A CS August Rush AU birthday fic

Hellol! Okay, before I go on. I swear this will be the last WIP I start. I had to. This story is for my favorite dork @hookedonapirate cause I love her to death. She had asked me to write it before but at the time I was writing the Forever My Girl CS AU.

Happy Birthday!! Hope you like your present.

Thanks to my beta @ultraluckycatnd she is the best!!

FFN

AO3

A love for music unites an unlikely pair. The rhapsody they unknowingly created will give life to the hope they still have in their hearts.

Killian Jones and his older brother Liam had arrived from London with nothing more than the clothes on their back to pursue a music career. The lives of the Jones brothers had been difficult since the beginning. Their mother died at a young age and their father had decided he was not made to be a family man.

The Jones brothers had formed The Outlaws with some fellow expatriates they met along the way. The venues they played weren't the best, but they managed to make a name for themselves enough to have steady gigs.

Emma Nolan had grown up with loving parents but after an unfortunate accident, she was left alone. Afterwards, her grandfather took her in. George Spencer was an ill-tempered man. He wasn't a doting person, which caused Emma to become closed off. She focused on solace in the cello. Thankfully, the man valued pomp and grandeur so, at the thought of his granddaughter attending Juilliard, he eagerly made it possible.

On a rare night out with her best friend Elsa, they decide to go to listen to a little-known rock band called The Outlaws they saw fliers for. It was love at first sight. The lead singer mesmerized the young cellist with his voice. The girls waited for the band to finish their set to introduce themselves to them. Elsa and Emma fit in with the band perfectly. The Jones brothers had quickly gravitated towards the blonde beauties.

Emma and Killian had slowly drifted away from the group. It ended up being the most magical night for the young lovers above New York's Washington Square.

Months later, Emma finds out she is pregnant. Somehow, she already loves her kid so much. Her grandfather makes his displeasure known, however, every moment of her pregnancy.

The day her life changed was gloomy and rainy. After an argument with George, Emma had gone to the store to buy some last-minute things for her baby. The drunk driver came out of nowhere. When she gives birth prematurely, her grandfather takes advantage while she is unconscious and gives the baby girl up for adoption. The moment Emma wakes up, she is told the news that her baby is dead. The news shatters her musical dreams and any hope of happiness.

You're not special. You're just like the rest of us... alone, nothing but an orphan.

The music... Can you hear it? Listen... I can hear it everywhere.

It's in the wind ...

in the light...

It's all around us.

All you have to do is open your heart and listen.

Sometimes the world tries to knock the hope out of you.

They tried to stop me from hearing the music...

I believe in music the way others believe in fairy tales. When I'm alone it builds inside me eager to erupt into a melody. I like to believe that what I hear came from my parents. That the music I hear is the same one they heard the night they met...

Maybe that's how they found each other and that's how they'll know I am theirs and find me...

Hope Swan had grown up in foster care. As a baby, she had been adopted but returned once the couple was blessed with their own flesh and blood. After that, she bounced from foster home to foster home.

In her shared room at the group home, she's currently at, Hope records herself humming a song that keeps playing in her mind, but is rudely interrupted by her roommate who mocks her. "You are not special. You're just like us, an unwanted orphan."

The girl walks away, slamming the door.

Hope's eyes water at the mean girl's words. She knows it in her heart that she is wanted and someday she will find her parents. She continues recording her humming of the song in her heart.

Hope is now eleven years old. She stands in the back of the group as one of the younger girls is adopted by a couple. Maybe she should be bitter and want to be adopted but if she was, she would never find her parents. They're out there and she will find them.

Hope runs away once more from her group home. Living on the streets she makes friends easily, but is still guarded. She knows that someday her parents will come looking for her. All she wants is to go home.

As she wanders the streets, runaway Hope Swan is getting closer to find her home. She knows she will find her family. All she has to do is listen to the music in her heart and follow it.

A kind man, Merlin, is assigned Hope Swan's case. She wasn't a trouble maker, but she was reportedly closed off with the couples. He is notified that she has run away. She has a history of running away. The picture of the young girl saddens him. He wishes he can find her and place her in a good home. She is a pretty girl, with blonde hair, vibrant sea-blue eyes, dimples, and a slightly dimpled chin. He posts her picture on the board.

Emma Nolan had moved away after losing her daughter. Her little girl, her grandfather told her the baby was a tiny girl. The heartbreak led her to become a music teacher to kids. She was always surrounded by children and music. That was the way she chose to honor her child. An unexpected call from her grandfather's doctor makes her break a promise she had made to herself years ago. He is the only family she has left.

Once she arrives at his house, she is summoned to his death bed.

His eyes tear up. "I thought you wouldn't come."

"I don't hate you Grandpa, but my heart hasn't healed. Time will never heal this wound," she sniffled.

He closes his watery eyes. "I think I can help with that."

Emma gets closer to his bed, confused. "How can you say that? My child is gone! You didn't want her, so you threw her away while I slept. You took that away from me. I couldn't hold her!"

"Emma, enough!" he screams, then immediately starts coughing from the effort.

"I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I know now that family is precious, that image doesn't matter. Emma, I have a confession. I hope it's not too late and that you will find it in your heart to forgive me."

Emma stares at him.

"She's alive. Your little girl is alive."

"What? How can you be so cruel and say that to me!" Emma says with disbelief and tears pooled in her eyes.

"Because it's the truth. She is alive. I gave her up for adoption, and I was the one who signed the papers. I was your next of kin since you weren't married."

Emma gapes at the old man as she let her limp body drop to the chair next to his bed. "You gave my daughter away as if she was property because I embarrassed you?"

George Spencer can't keep his eyes on his granddaughter. The once-proud man weakened by age and disease casts his eyes down in shame. "In my safe, you will find the documents."

"What good will that do me?" Emma asks.

"Emma, my attorney can help you find her," he says quietly.

"But-"

"Emma, if your parents were here, they would tell you that you should never lose hope," he says.

Emma stands up. "You're right, I'm going to find my daughter."

George sighs as he falls into a deep sleep, his machines flatlining. The nurse that had given them privacy to talk rushes in as soon as the machine goes off.

Emma finds the papers and with trembling hands, calls Mr. Gold, the attorney.

The man is a ruthless slimy bastard. He tries to convince Emma that her kid is better off where she is. Of course, he would say that seeing he had helped her grandfather do this to her; he was just covering his ass. She doesn't care about that. All she wants is to get her kid. She has a daughter and she is out there. She hopes to God that she is being taken care of.

Killian Jones had moved to California not long after The Outlaws broke up. He had given up his dream of singing, but somehow had managed to gain a thriving career as an agent.

He had also distanced himself from the memory of Emma. After the band broke up, his brother and former bandmates had moved to Boston. Killian thought the further away he could get would be better, though. He tried forgetting her, but he knew he could never forget her. It was only one night, but he would belong to her for the rest of time.

Liam had called him a few days prior to ask if he wanted to join them in a reunion of sorts. They were going to play at the little place where he had met Emma. The joint was going out of business so in an effort to raise money to save it, The Outlaws had agreed to come out of retirement for one night only.

Killian had yet to agree, but 'what if' rattled in his brain. Something inside him tugged at his heart. A man unwilling to fight for what he wants gets what he deserves, Liam had told him over and over. He decides he will do it. He will fly to New York and look for Emma. He prays to every deity he can that she is not married. It's a selfish thought, but he couldn't bear it if she isn't meant for him.

Killian picks up the phone and dials his brother's number. "Liam, I'll be there."

"Brother, you'll do it? What happened to never setting foot in New York?" Liam asks.

"Liam, are you going to question my decision? I thought you would be happy," Killian says through gritted teeth.

"I am, I am. I'm just surprised. Killian, this doesn't have anything to do with her, does it?"

"Brother," Killian sighs, "Even if it was, I don't have a way to contact her." Sure he was lying, but his brother didn't have to know all his reasons.

"We are driving out there," Liam says.

"I'll fly. I will text you the details once I've made arrangements," Killian says.

"Alright, see you then," Liam adds. "Brother, it's going to be good seeing you after so long. I miss you."

Killian sighs. "I miss you too."

The line disconnects. Alright Emma Nolan, what have you been up to? he thinks as he enters her name in the browser's search engine. He had thought of looking for her before, but he had never found any sign of her online. He knows her family has money but somehow she has managed to stay hidden. The only information that would come up was of her grandfather's business deals. His heart tells him that this time, though, things would be different.

Sure enough, he finds one headline: "George Spencer dies at home after a long battle with heart disease."

Killian reads the headline carefully and his heart sparks with hope to see Emma again. The newspaper lists her as the sole survivor of her grandfather's Estate. That means she would have to be at his home. He winces at the thought. He knows that his method to approach her while grieving will be considered to be in bad form, but if it is the only chance he has, he has to make the best of the situation. He takes a deep breath and alters his flight plans so he can arrive a couple of days earlier.

Mr. Gold had changed his tune when Emma didn't fall for his manipulations and offered his services. Emma reluctantly accepted his help. He told her to give him a couple of hours and at that time, he would have information to make her search easier. He quickly found out that her daughter had ended up in foster care. He gave her the name of the caseworker assigned to Hope Swan. That was her baby's name. Emma tries to ignore the fact that her daughter is in the care of the state. She wonders what she looks like? Does she take after her or him? Killian Jones, he had never left her thoughts, but before it was painful to think of him because inevitably her thoughts would end on her daughter. Emma smiles, realizing how fitting the name Hope was for their daughter. Emma thanks Mr. Gold and goes to see Merlin Wilde.

Emma arrives at the CPS office. Her nerves are getting the best of her. She approaches the information desk. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Mr. Wilde?"

The woman looks bored. "Do you have an appointment?"

Emma shakes her head. "No, I'm sorry. I must speak to him, though."

The woman rolls her eyes. "Fill out the sign-in sheet. I will see if he can fit you in today." She gets up and heads to a door behind her desk.

Emma is about to sit down when something catches her eye. Pictures of missing kids. Runaways. She gravitates to the board. Her heart is beating so fast as her eyes land on a name, Hope Swan. Emma smiles as she stares at blue eyes that reminded her of the pair that stole her heart all those years back. The sound of someone clearing their throat startles her.

"I'm sorry for startling you, Miss Nolan. I'm Merlin Wilde." He smiles at her as he looks over her sign-in sheet and signals for her to follow him.

"Oh, no it's okay. Yes, I wanted to speak to you in private. My situation is not a common story," Emma says as she follows him to his office.

They enter his office and he kindly motions for her to take a seat.

Emma looks around the office. She tries to get a feel for the man. He seems kind, but looks can be deceiving.

"Miss Nolan, how may I help you? Is there a child in a situation you are concerned about?"

Emma nods. "Mr. Wilde, yes, in fact, that is the reason why I'm here."

"Alright," he starts taking notes. "May I have the child's name?"

"Hope Swan," Emma says. "I'm her mother."

Merlin looks up from his computer. "I'm sorry," he says as he types rapidly on his computer keyboard, before looking up quizzically. "Her case says she is in the care of Mrs. Emerald."

"I'm afraid you misunderstood me. I'm Hope's biological mother." She takes a deep breath. "I was young and unmarried when I got pregnant with her, and my grandfather didn't think having a child was appropriate." Her eyes begin to sting because of the tears. "He took it upon himself to decide that giving my daughter away while I was unconscious because of an accident was the appropriate decision to make. Until recently, I thought Hope was dead. I'm here because I need your help getting my daughter back. I understand she is in foster care, so it shouldn't be a big deal, right?"

Merlin keeps his eyes on her and laughs. "She is a good kid, the people that had fostered her before never had a complaint about her. She loves music and she always hummed a melody to herself. She was just not open to letting them in. It's like she knew she didn't belong there. I'm afraid that has caused her to run away on several occasions. I was just informed she ran away from the last home."

Emma's eyes tear up. "I loved my daughter from the moment I knew she was there. I used to play a song on the cello for her that her father sang the night we met. Until the day I thought I had lost her, I played the same song. I need to find her."

"And we will, Miss Nolan. I have put up fliers all over the city."

Emma nods. "I will look for her myself. I plan on hiring a private investigator. Could I have a picture of her?"

"Of course, Miss Nolan. I will do all in my power to help get your daughter back. I'm going to go looking for her at Washington Square Park. That is a hot spot for runaways. If you would like to join me? We might get lucky," he says as he hands her the picture of Hope from her file.

Emma smiles. "Sure, I will. Thank you for asking."

Hope is sitting on a bench at Washington Square Park and then she hears some music playing. Instantly, she is drawn to it. A boy around her age is playing the guitar. She smiles wide and sits down to enjoy the show. People surround the boy as he plays and they drop change on a baseball cap on the floor. Once he finishes playing, the boy picks up his cap and puts the money in his pocket. He grabs his guitar and thanks the crowd before leaving.

Curious, Hope follows him to an abandoned theatre.

Killian arrives on the first flight of the day. He rents a car and makes his way to the Nolan Estate. He is a nervous wreck. What will Emma think of him showing up unannounced? He hopes she will be happy to see him.

The boy Hope was following introduces himself as Henry. She likes him. He is nice and he promptly explains that all the runaway children live there. They had been taken in by Walsh Oz, the "Wizard". The man provides a roof over their head and food.

"Don't worry, Hope. He will teach you how to perform in street corners to pay for your part. If you're lucky and any good, he will let you use one of the park's spots," Henry says. "When he gets home with food, I will introduce you."

Hope thinks to herself it couldn't be that bad. This way, she won't be picked on for playing music.

Henry smiles fondly at Hope. "So why did you run away?"

Hope smiles back. "I'm going to find my parents. How about you?"

"My adoptive mom didn't love me." He shrugs. "Hope, I know you will find them."

Hope beams. "Thank you, but how can you believe so?"

Henry smiles. "I have a feeling that you will find them and then you will have your happy ending."

The Wizard hadn't always lived in condemned buildings. He once had been a success in his art but lost it due to some scandal years ago, but he could still spot talent. The young girl Henry had brought to him had loads of talent. She had played a song that most of the other kids couldn't play. The girl was magical. She appeared to be a musical genius with savant-like abilities and perfect pitch. He knows he could make a good living off of that girl. He smiles wickedly as the girl plays with his prized guitar, Roxanne. "Well, looks like we found our top earner thanks to Henry," The Wizard says to the group. He pulls Hope to the side. "Alright, you are going to be in my old spot at the park and you will be using Roxanne." He scrutinizes her. "Now what should we call you?"

"My name is Hope," she says.

He walks back and forth contemplating and shaking his head. "I know, I shall call you Odette."

Emma and Merlin arrive at the park. They split up in the hope to cover more ground.

Merlin posts missing posters of Hope on every corner he can; he even hands some to the people walking by.

Emma is walking around the corner when something catches her eye. They have some posters for an upcoming event displaying some talent from Julliard. She smiles wistfully, she misses her music. She takes out her phone to call an old friend. Elsa had ended up at their old school as a teacher.

Somehow her connection is stronger now. She has a sudden need to play. She feels it will help her connect with her daughter.

Tag list:

@rumdrum91 @itsfabianadocarmo @xsajx @hookedonapirate @kmomof4 @searchingwardrobes @seriouslyhooked @profdanglaisstuff @let-it-raines @revanmeetra87 @snowbellewells @hollyethecurious @kymbersmith-90 @branlovestowrite @thejollyroger-writer @shireness-says @ilovemesomekillianjones @thisonesatellite @thesschesthair @winterbythesea @stahlop @resident-of-storybrooke @superchocovian @lfh1226-linda @artistic-writer @thislassishooked @shardminds @winterbaby89 @xhookswenchx @ultraluckycatnd @gingerchangeling @laschatzi @wellhellotragic @xemmaloveskillianx @courtorderedcake @pirateherokillian @optomisticgirl @darkcolinodonorgasm @sherlockianwhovian @andiirivera @djlbg @nikkiemms @jennjenn615 @scientificapricot @officerrogers @imlaxdris71 @therealstartraveller776 @kday426 @allons-y-to-hogwarts-713 @donteattheappleshook @reggieshamster @lassluna @carpedzem @captainodonoghue @killian-will-do @jarienn972 @tehgreeneyes @demisexualemmaswan @queen-serena88 @swanslieutenant @tiganasummertree @whimsicallyenchantedrose @bethacaciakay @ohmakemeahercules @jrob64 @klynn-stormz @mariakov81 @sals86 @elizabeethan @brooke-to-broch @hookedonhiddles @onceratheart18 @the-darkdragonfly @veryverynotgoodwrites @jonesfandomfanatic @wefoundloveunderthelight

#Captain Swan #cs birthday fic #hookedonapirate #cs ff #CSMM #Captain Swan Movie Marathon #CSMM20

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twoidiotwriters1 · 4 years ago

Text

Iron 10 (Peter Parker x Fem!Oc)

Words: 3, 238

Masterlist

Chapter 9

"And how am I supposed to learn to control them if they forbid me to do anything?" Lily asks from the back seat.

“We’ll talk to your father. Depending on what happens, we’ll send them the necessary equipment,” informs Fury.

"Depending on what happens?"

"Legal aspects.”

"As which?"

"Lily, one problem at a time," Nat interrupts.

“Fine. Where are we going?"

"Do you want a donut?"

"Sure!"

The van pulls up outside the Randy’s Donuts store, Fury comes out. They both look at him from inside the car. Tony’s sitting on the huge donut.

"Why did we come for him?” She grits her teeth, remembering the annoyance towards her father.

"You two should talk," Nat says.

"I don’t want to.”

"If you want us to help you, that is the condition.”

Lily turns away from the window and folds her arms looking at the redhead.

"You didn't say anything about conditions.”

"Now there are.”

"It's not fair,” She sighs and then looks at Nat's outfit. "Why do you wear that? Is it your super spy uniform?"

"Something like that. You like it?"

“You look weird, but I like it. Do you have weapons or explosives?"

“Perhaps."

The agent receives an order from her intercom. She responds and returns to the girl.

"Come on, I'll buy you a donut."

They both get out of the truck and enter the premises. Nat asks Lily a chocolate donut and walks to the chairs where Tony and Fury are, while the girl takes the donut from her and sits in an armchair away from them, with her back to them.

"Huh!" Tony says when he sees Natasha in a new outfit "You're... fired.”

"That's not up to you,” answers the redhead sitting down.

"Tony, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff,” adds Fury.

“Hi."

"I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. shadow. Once we knew you were ill or out of control, I was tasted to you by Director Fury. Besides taking care of your daughter in risky situations,” She tilts her head towards Lily.

Tony frowns and looks away to meet the little girl, eating a donut while she swings her legs. He goes back to the redhead.

"I suggest you apologize,” answers Tony.

"You've been very busy," continues Fury. “You made your girl your CEO, you’re giving away your stuff, you neglect your daughter without taking into account the high priority over her powers, you let your friend fly way with your suit. Now, if I did’nt know better—”

Tony rolls his eyes. Again, someone else scolding him for whatever stupid thing he does. Although he now knows that he did screw up, he doesn't want to hear it again. He has enough with his own mind.

"You don't know better. I didn’t give it to him. He took it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, He took it?" asks Fury. “You’re Iron Man and he just took it? The Little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit?" He says. “Is that possible?"

“Well, according to Mr. Stark’s database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorized usage,” answers Nat.

Tony snorts.

"What do you want from me?"

“What do we want from you? Uh-uh,” Fury says as Natasha gets up. “What do you want from me? You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are not the center of my universe,” He scolds him.

In that, Natasha injects something into Tony making him scream. The conversation is overheard by Lily, but only when he complains does she turn around.

"Oh, god, are you gonna steal my kidney and sell it?" Tony asks.

Natasha moves Tony's head and Fury sees the lines on Stark's neck slowly disappear.

Fury explains what the substance they just injected does to him.

“Give me a couple of boxes of that. I'll see right as rain."

"It's not a cure, it just abates the symptoms,” Nat explains.

"You need to get back to work, Stark," Fury says and Tony sighs. "And by Stark, I mean both," He points back.

Lily realizes that he sees her and turns away.

"I don't think she wants to work as a team now."

“She has her reasons. You are a terrible companion.”

***

They all return home to Malibu. Tony and Nick sit on the terrace, now destroyed. They both talk about the reactor, the technology that Howard Stark couldn't finish, and about Vanko father and son.

Fury takes it upon himself to explain everything to Tony, while Lily returns from her room after making sure that no one had destroyed her. Nat had told him what happened with Rhodes and Tony.

The little girl walks to sit on the stairs that lead to the terrace, listening to the adults.

“You told me I hadn't tried everything. What do you mean I haven’t tried everything? What haven’t I tried?" Tony points out.

"He said that you were the only person with the means and knowledge to finish what he started.”

"He said that?"

“Are you that guy? Hmm? Are you? ‘Cause if you are, then you can solve the riddle of your heart. Or maybe, I should be discussing this with your daughter."

Tony winces and shakes his head. Lily frowns.

"I don't know where you get your information, but he wasn't my biggest fan," says Tony.

"I'm not either," adds Lily, resting her chin on her arm. Tony glances at her.

"What do you remember about your dad?"

This catches the girl's attention.

“He was cold, he was calculating. He never told me he loved me. He never even told me he liked me, so it’s a Little tough for me to digest then you’re telling me he said the whole future was riding on me an’s passing it down. I don't get that."

Hearing that, Lily feels a little sorry for Tony. Only a little. She imagines how could be her grandfather when Tony was her age.

"You're talking about a guy whose happiest day was when he shipped me off to boarding School.”

"That’s not true.”

"Well, then, clearly you knew my dad better than I did.”

“As a matter of fact, I did. You can believe and think many things about him, but knowing all that, do you really want Lily to think the same about you?" says Fury and then finishes his drink. More agents appear to drop off several suitcases. "Well then, what else will I know about one of the founding members of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

"What?"

All three get up. Lily walks over to see the suitcase.

"What’s this?" Tony asks pointing at her.

"You got this, right?" asks Fury.

"Got what? I don’t even know what I’m supposed to get,” answers Tony nervously.

“Natasha will remain a floater at Stark with her cover of her intact. And you remember Agent Coulson, right?"

“Yeah."

They both greet each other.

"Oh, and Tony,” says Fury before leaving. "After you fix this whole mess, we should talk about Lily's new training, she needs it more than you do. And remember, I got my eye on you.”

The latter makes Lily laugh.

Natasha and Coulson explain to Tony what to do and what not to do, while Lily walks over to the suitcase.

Property of H.Stark

"Okay, time to work, Kid," says Tony.

“No," Lily walks away. "We've been together for several hours and you haven't even apologized, and now you're just hoping that I'll help you?"

Tony raises an eyebrow, shifting uncomfortably.

“Basically."

Lily looks at him in disbelief.

"I don't want to, I won't help you,” She says and then returns to her room.

***

The truth is that Lily does want to help him, but she knows he doesn't deserve it. Moreover, she cannot be alone in her room doing nothing. She wants to know what’s in that suitcase, but she doesn't want Tony to find out about her.

An idea crosses her mind. She may not be the stealthiest, but she is the only thing she has. She goes into the living room of her destroyed house and presses the hidden button on the emergency elevator that goes alone to the workshop. She enters it and after a few seconds arrives at the workshop.

All the lights are off and Tony is sitting in an armchair facing a projection. Lily sneaks up behind the old project.

They both watch the old Howard Stark tapes, rehearsing the presentation of what is now Stark Expo. The man has several mistakes with words, but something else calls him the attention to the girl. Just as a little boy comes out the other side of the desk where Howard presents a model. The boy takes one of the pieces and Howard notices.

“Tony, what are you doing back there? What is that? Put that back!” He scolds him.

Lily leans in to get a better look at the boy version of her father. Now she can see the resemblance between Howard and Tony when scolding their children, but is also fun to watch.

Several takes with more errors follow.

“So, from all of us at Stark Industries, I’d like to personally show you my ass,” says Howard. Lily can't help but laugh at his words, giving away her presence. Although Tony had listened to her since she arrived.

"I know you're in there, kid. You're too curious to miss this,” She comes out of her hiding place, crawling on the ground until she reaches the other side of the projector.

"I'm still mad.”

Tony sighs.

"I know,” He leans in the chair and sets aside a notebook.

“Tony," says Howard causing both of them to return to the screen. “You’re too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put this film for you. I built this for you. And Someday you'll realize that it represents a whole lot more than just people’s inventions. It represents my life’s work. This is the key to the future,” He shows the model and the reactor. “I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is and always will be my greatest creation… is you,” The tape ends.

"Do you think Grandpa Howard would love me?" Lily asks when the lights come on.

Tony laughs when he hears ‘Grandpa Howard’, he’s sure he wouldn’t like to be called that.

"I don’t know. Maybe he would love you more than me,” He looks at Lily.

"I am more adorable than you.”

Tony nods, unable to fight back. He sighs. He thinks about the words of his father and wonders why he was never like this with him when they were together. Why does he have to find out about this from a tape or from other people? Then he thinks of his own daughter and Fury's words come back to him.

Tony doesn't want Lily to grow up thinking that he was worse than Howard, he knows what he did.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you that day," He begins.

"And?" She says crossing her arms.

"And sorry for what you had to witness at the party.”

"And?"

Tony purses his lips.

“I'm sorry I failed you. I shouldn't have left you alone, or yell at you, or lie to you.”

"Nat told me that your chest was killing you,” He nods. "Didn't it occur to you to ask for help?"

“It is somewhat complicated. When you say that you are dying, everyone panics.”

"But then they help you.”

"I guess so.”

Lily feels a lump in her throat. Just remembering that, she again feels afraid of losing her father without even knowing something about what was really going on.

"I don't like that you hide things from me or lie to me," she says with a broken voice.

“Sorry."

"No, you must promise that you won’t do it again,” she interrupts him.

Tony watches Lily's determination.

"I promise.”

“Mr. Fury said we are a team. You must do your part,” she says as she gets up.

"Mr. Fury?"

"Dad!"

"Okay, okay, I got it!” He argues. In that he remembers an unfinished business. Tony stayed for a moment in the destroyed mansion and as he passed through the kitchen he saw a burned box on the sides.

He walks over to his desk with Lily following him. He removes the remains from the box and carefully takes the gift from him.

"It's a good try…”

"But you didn't even open it," she complains.

"I'm sorry, but you were missing some details.”

Lily rolls her eyes.

"I put it together by watching a video, it's not as if you had explained each part to me.”

“That can change. Do you remember the rules we agreed upon the first time you were in the workshop?" She nods. “Forget the question limit. From now on, you must ask.”

Lily can't help but smile.

“Agree."

"So, are we good now?"

"Yup, but if you do something wrong, I'll tell Mr. Fury to scold you again."

"He didn't scold me," He complains.

"Whatever you say. Now what shall we do?"

Tony sighs and then winces.

“I must go to Pepper, stay here and cover me with the secret agents. I will not be late.”

"Good luck.”

***

After a few hours, Tony returns with the demo that his father had shown on the tapes. He arms it on various tables.

“Cool," says Lily approaching.

Tony orders Jarvis to scan every detail so he can manipulate it, he takes the hologram and moves it away from the table.

“Open your eyes wide, Kid. The answer to our problems is here,” says Tony giving her a bench and he sits on another. They both look at the model.

"What do we have to look for?"

"A new element.”

“Easy," she says sarcastically.

"My father put it here, we just have to move some things,” He brings the projection towards the center, a sphere.

"He must have something at the core," Tony whispers.

Lily sees what is around.

"What if…?”

"What?"

"What if we put everything together?"

Tony frowns, but an idea crosses his mind.

Little by little, Tony is gathering the important aspects towards the center of the Expo and in each step, he’s explaining Lily. In the end he manages to find a new element, the possible solution to the problem of intoxication.

"Dead for almost twenty years, and still taking me to school,” He says watching his creation. "Nice work, Kid.”

She smiles.

"How will you make it work?" She asks.

"Unfortunately, it’s impossible to synthesize," reports Jarvis.

Tony gets up from his chair.

“Get ready for a major remodel, fellas! We're back in hardware mode. C’mon, kid.”

Between Lily and Tony - mostly Tony - they break down some walls, open the floor and use any energy source in the mansion to connect it to the workshop part. They both open some boxes that S.H.I.E.L.D left them and use every material they have on hand.

"Hold the lamp," Tony tells her.

"It's what I'm doing,” Lily claims while she also tries to see what Tony is doing.

"More to the right.”

"What does that do?"

“Gives more energy. Bring the lamp closer…”

In the meantime, neither of them notices that Phil walks into the shop.

"I heard you broke the perimeter,” says the agent.

"Whoops" says Lily.

"Uh, yeah. That was, like, three years ago. Where have you been?" Tony answers.

"I was doing some stuff.”

"Yeah, well, us too, and it worked.”

Coulson checks the boxes. He pulls out some kind of unfinished shield.

"What’s that?" asks Lily.

“It’s exactly what we need to make this work. Lily, take it,” She obeys. "Lift the coil,” He says to Coulson and between them they lift it up a bit. Enough for Lily to put it under. Tony sets the leveler. “Perfectly level. I'm busy what do you want?"

Coulson warns him that he must go on another mission and says goodbye.

"Glad to see you are a part of it, Lily.”

"It was not easy,” she answers making him laugh.

The hours pass and they both go back to work. In the end, Tony gives Lily some special glasses and explains what they will do.

The energy is concentrated in the device.

"Initializing prismatic accelerator," reports Jarvis. Suddenly a fine laser is projected and reflected off a material.

"Get behind me,” Tony orders him.

Stark operates the machine with the laser, but not before cutting part of the wall where he directs it.

"Oh oh.”

“Oops!"

With difficulty, the laser reaches the small inverted triangle that Tony prepared so that the power would be trapped there. After a few minutes, they turn off the machine. Tony approaches and with tweezers takes the triangle and puts it in the reactor. The item’s accepted.

"We did it?" Lily asks.

“We did it."

She sighs in relief, right now she feels the exhaustion. She walks over to the couch and sits on it.

"Wake me up when we're in trouble," she warns him.

"Why would we be in trouble?"

"Rhodey says we have that talent.”

"Makes sense.”

In that a beep is heard.

"Incoming call and with a blocked number, sir,” warns Jarvis.

“My phone privilege is reinstated. Lovely. Kid, we have the phone back!"

“Great," she answers from the couch.

"Coulson. How’s the land of enchantment?"

"Hey. Tony. How you doing?” The voice is unknown to Lily so she settles in the chair and leans out. "I doubled cycle."

"You what?"

“You told me double cycle’s more power. Good advice.”

"You sound pretty sprightly for a dead guy.”

"What?" whispers Lily. She gets up and walks over to Tony. He makes a sign so that she doesn't make noise.

"You too,” answers the man.

Tony removes his microphone from the call.

"Trace him,” he orders Jarvis.

“Now, the true history of Stark name will be written. Your secrets will be revealed at any moment."

"What is he talking about, dad?"

Tony ignores her and keeps checking the call.

“What your father did to my family over forty years, I will do to you in forty minutes and I will make sure your offspring disappear. I hope you're ready,” He says, and then hangs up.

Tony sees Justin Hammer's announcement at Stark Expo on another screen, and based on the coordinates of the call, Vanko may have something planned for the event. He gets up and takes the new reactor.

"Dad?"

Stark replaces the reactor in his chest, after coughing a bit, the man feels the difference.

"Time to go,” He says walking towards his armor.

"Hey! No. You promised—”

"I have to go, Lily."

“But, you must tell me what happens. You promised not to lie to me,” She gets in her way. He sighs.

"Vanko, the man who tried to kill me in Monaco, wants to do something at the Expo and I have to stop him.”

“What does he plan to do?"

"I'm not sure. You must stay here. I'll talk to Fury about sending agents here. Turn on the TV, I'm sure they'll put it on,” He continues on his way.

“Dad," He turns again. "Be careful, please.”

Tony smiles and nods.

"Stay in the workshop in case I need your help.”

"You got it.”

Taglist:

@silenthappyplace @yourbonesareinmybody @aylauwuuniverse @skittles-skittles @hufflepuffzutara @poetryislife0715 @21bruhs @heavenlymistakes @my-love-of-books @dielgonacoffee

#Iron #peter parker fanfiction #Peter Parker #Peter Parker x Oc #Peter Parker x reader #Avengers #Avengers fanfic #Marvel #Marvel fanfic #Tony Stark #Lily Stark #Stark! reader #Pepper Potts #James rhodes #Iron Man 2 #Spider man

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pellucidity-is-me · 3 years ago

Text

A Plan

Summary: Albus Dumbledore hears of a small boy—Remus Lupin—who was recently bitten by a dangerous werewolf. The boy-turned-werewolf is only five, but Dumbledore has already made the decision that he will someday be enrolled in Hogwarts: a feat which has never been achieved. First chapter from my longer fic (link in blog description)!

Wordcount: 2727

Dumbledore sat in the Hog's Head, trying to avoid the gaze of his furious brother. They never talked now. Dumbledore could understand why, but it did feel a bit childish to be bickering like... well, like siblings. He listened to Aberforth scrubbing the counter in a sort of agonized rhythm. Aberforth was still staring, eyes narrowed—perhaps Dumbledore could not see it, but he could feel it. "Just a few more minutes and I'll be out of your hair, Aberforth," Dumbledore said lightly. "I am afraid that this is the easiest place for secret information to remain secret."

"I had to shut down my pub, just for you," scowled Aberforth. "We can't all be rich and famous, Albus. Some of us have to make an honest living instead of pulling political strings for the greater good."

Dumbledore winced. All of their meetings went like this. "This is important," he said. "And Clark is an honest man."

"Clark Darnall is a werewolf."

"An honest werewolf, then. He is doing good work and he has important information. I might as well offer him a drink at one of the best pubs in Britain."

"Flattery won't work on me."

"I am not trying to flatter. I truly do not mean to bother you, Aberforth—" Dumbledore glanced up at the portrait of Ariana and sighed. "I do not mean to bother you," he said again. "Please. One hour."

"I wish the whole world knew that you aren't the paragon of light they think you are," hissed Aberforth, slamming down his towel. He sat down behind the counter. Dumbledore heard him cross his arms.

Silence. The only noise in the room was the sounds of Aberforth's annoyed huffs and the tapping of Dumbledore's long fingers on the tabletop.

Minutes passed. Suddenly, the door flew open.

"Albus Dumbledore. Oh, thank you fer meetin' me." Clark looked just the same as ever—all mussed brown hair, unhealthy frame, dirty face, and ripped robes. His strange accent was the same as ever. Clark Darnall had been bitten at age nine and had escaped to Greyback's werewolf pack shortly after. The pack, from what Dumbledore understood, was a conglomeration of all kinds of different people and nationalities. Clark's accent was a strange combination of a lot of different places. He hadn't lived in human civilization in a little less than twenty years. Dumbledore's heart ached for his plight.

"My pleasure. Sit down, Clark. Aberforth, if you would..."

"Don't speak to me," said Aberforth, slamming two cups of Butterbeer on Dumbledore's table. Dumbledore stole a glance at Aberforth for the first time. Sure enough, Aberforth looked ready to kill him. Never mind that, thought Dumbledore. He turned his attention back to Clark. Dumbledore's relationship with his brother, he suspected, was a lost cause.

"You said that you had pertinent information, old friend?" said Dumbledore gently, and Clark bobbed his head up and down.

"Yes. Yes, sir, I do. I... werewolves... you know. No one listenin' in?"

"Not a one. Except for Aberforth, but he's a very moral man. He can keep a secret."

Aberforth scrubbed harder and grunted an agreement.

"Tha' man. Aberforth. He doesn't like werewolves much, hunh?"

Dumbledore smiled. Clark wasn't usually this blunt, but a werewolf who had lived amongst other werewolves all his life often misjudged humans' ability to hear spoken comments. Heightened senses were a blessing and a curse. Mostly a curse, according to Clark. "He can hear you, Clark."

"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry, sir. Ab... Aberforth. So sorry."

Aberforth did not grace this with a reply, so Dumbledore broke the awkward silence. "How much time do you have?"

"'Bout an hour till Greyback notices I'm gone, p'raps less. I should hurry."

"I'm listening." Dumbledore took a sip of Butterbeer.

"Greyback's been excited lately. Dare I say over the moon." Clark chuckled weakly. "There was this man, while ago. Fergot his name. Somethin' like... Loopy, I guess. I'll remember later, prob'ly. But he sort of insulted Greyback... Greyback had a spot of trouble with the Ministry, you see, and was brought in fer a proper hearing. Pretended he was a Muggle tramp. Almost got away with it, 'parently, but... the bloke, Loopy... he didn't buy it at all. Clever man."

"Do you know anything else about this man?"

"Greyback was goin' on abou' Boggarts. 'Parently the bloke was an expert... and then they hired him at the Ministry. Somethin' like Crocodile fer a first name... you know my mem'ry's not all there, Albus."

Dumbledore paused. An expert on Boggarts who had been hired by the Ministry... Crocodile Loopy? Dumbledore's mind started to conjure pictures of the young man whom he had taught years earlier... brown hair, shy demeanor, studied various subjects for fun... sense of humor... got into fights with other Hogwarts students at times. Mostly mild-mannered, but a temper. "Lyall Lupin," he said heavily. "It was Lyall, wasn't it? I taught him." Dumbledore started to picture what possibly could have happened between Greyback and Lyall that made Greyback so happy... a fight, perhaps? Lyall lost? The full moon was a few weeks ago... was Lyall killed? Or bitten? Poor man.

"Yup, Lyall Lupin. Tha' was it, I'm sure of it. Well, Lyall saw righ' through Greyback. His coworkers didn't believe him, and Greyback mentioned... Greyback said they sort of taunted Lupin a bit. Seemed happy abou' it, whatever it was, but I don't know what they said. Ministry let Greyback free and tried to Obliviate him, but Greyback escaped. Ministry knows what 'e looks like now. Greyback was hoppin' mad abou' tha', he was. Face's all over the papers. Can't go undercover anymore. But 'parently Lupin said that... werewolves were... heartless, soulless... creatures? I do'nno. Also implied we should all die."

Dumbledore closed his eyes. Oh, Lyall...

"So I guess Lupin both insulted Greyback and outed his appearance to the media, and Greyback was goin' on abou' revenge for a full day. 'Twas the day before the day of the full, you know. He was tellin' the story to everyone who would listen. Called us all together. Plotted his revenge. Said he was goin' over to Lupin's and killin' him. Said if the whole world knew who he was, he might as well make it worth it."

"And...?"

"And he went over to Lupin's a bit before the moon rose. Came back. Looked pleased. Blood all over."

Dumbledore felt a bit ill. "Lyall...?"

"Perfectly fine. 'Parently Greyback went out and scouted the area. Watched the house fer a bit. S'not just Lyall livin' there, he has a family. Wife. Kid."

Dumbledore felt even more ill.

"You know how Greyback goes after the kids. Ecstatic that there was a little lad there. Big Lupin got away with not even a scratch, he did, but Greyback meant to kill the kid."

So there was hope after all. "Meant to?"

"Meant to. Lad was only 'bout five, Greyback says. Tiny thing. Asleep before half-seven. You know children tha' young don't survive the firs' full, so there was no point in bitin' him and lettin' him live. So Greyback decided to... you know. Rip 'im apart. Leave 'im barely recognizable. Wanted to hurt Lupin, he did."

"Meant to?" Dumbledore repeated. Clark had always had a flair for the dramatic; he certainly liked to draw things out for maximum suspense. It was usually entertaining, but right now it was just mildly annoying. "You said that he... meant to kill the child."

"Yeah, he did. But he says he only got one bite in before Lupin heard noises and scared 'im off. No sense stickin' around when a wizard's got a wand and s'firin' curses at you." Clark chuckled. "Miffed parents are dangerous, and Greyback's not stupid. Says it was still fun, though—lad didn't even scream; too stunned to do anything but stare. Greyback was pretty happy abou' how things turned out. Says it'll be a lot more fun for Lupin to live with a werewolf kid for a month. Said it wasn't possible fer such a young lad to survive the full, so Lupin would either have to put 'im down or let 'im die with the rising of the moon. But he regretted that he didn't get the kid fer himself. Younger ones taste better, he says."

Dumbledore shifted in his seat with discomfort. Clark was desensitized to such talk, having grown up among werewolves, but Dumbledore was not. He wasn't entirely convinced that Clark did not ever bite or kill people on the full moon, but he would never voice his reproaches to Clark. Clark was, after all, a good informant and debatably a good man... yet Dumbledore would not hesitate to protect anyone whom Clark may be willing to attack. "Continue, Clark."

"Righ'. Well, tha' was two and a half months ago, tha' was. Lad's been through the first full. Lupin let 'im live, which Greyback found surprising. But you know what's even more surprising?"

Dumbledore shook his head.

"The kid lived. Had his skeleton torn apart at the age of five, he did, and he didn't die. Mostly they've got to be at least five and a half, and even tha's rare. Greyback says seven is the best age. Greyback also said the kid wasn't even five yet when Greyback bit 'im. Close, but not yet—he was four. Family was talkin' 'bout fifth birthday prep'rations, he said. Lad prob'ly transformed for the firs' time righ' aroun' his birthday. Only five."

That was rare, certainly, but Dumbledore didn't see why it was such important information. "So...?"

"So tha's a big deal! You prob'ly don't understand. Yer brigh' and all, but you can't understand. In the werewolf world, tha's huge. Greyback went and discovered a kid who somehow got past all the laws of the world. Tha's why he's so happy. Got 'imself a protegee, he said. But when he tried to go get the kid and bring 'im to the pack... lad refused."

"Do you know the child's name?"

"'Course I do. Remus Lupin. Greyback's been sayin' it over and over, like it's a song stuck in his head. He gets obsessive sometimes. Scary. The fact that Remus refused made 'im even happier. Usually he can go into the child's room sometime before the second moon, cast a Soundproofing Charm, and then convince the kid to come join. After they've been through the firs' full moon they'll do anythin' to make it better, and Greyback makes sure the parents aren't aroun' to make the decision fer their kid. So tha's what Greyback did with Remus. Sometimes he makes us do it, but he really wanted to do it himself this time. Never seen 'im so excited abou' anythin'. His heart was going a mile a minute, it was."

"But Remus refused?"

"Yup. Greyback did all the normal stuff... promised he could make the pain go away, said it was almost like a cure, said Remus'd meet other kids like 'im. Greyback even said that he tried to act all nice and fatherly, but none of us believe 'im. Anyway, lad heard that Greyback could help an' then flat-out refused. Said he wanted to stay where he was. Also a big deal, Dumbledore... pain's a lot, an' kids don't offen have the presence of mind to make their own decisions."

"I see."

"Greyback tried Plan B, as he always does when the kids refuse. Took off Soundproofing Charms, let parents in. Sometimes the parents love to get the kid off their chests. But Lupin wasn't having it, 'parently. And Lupin can duel, so Greyback left. Lupin still loved his kid, even though he'd hated werewolves just two and a half months ago."

"Fathers do tend to love their children," murmured Dumbledore. "Lyall was always headstrong, but I never had any doubt when he was at Hogwarts that he'd do the right thing."

"Don'no if it is the righ' thing, meself. Remus Lupin's not gonna have an easy life. People're gonna hate 'im. And he's only five. He migh' have been better off with us... plus, I kinda wanted to meet him, I did. After Greyback's said so much abou' him."

"He will be better off here," said Dumbledore. "He will. Lyall is a good father, I'm sure."

"Yeah, well. They moved, after Greyback found 'em the second time, but Greyback isn't worried. Loves that the lad has a mind of his own. Says he'll go find Remus later when he's grown and try again. Says it's somethin' to look forward to. He's always so much happier when he has somethin' to look forward to. We're always scared of 'im after the euphoria of the last full moon dies down and he's got a whole month to go. But now he's practically bouncin' off the walls. No tellin' whether Remus'll survive the next full, but I hope he will. Really wanna meet the kid, I do."

"So do I," said Dumbledore thoughtfully. "But I imagine that the family is going through a lot right now. You're right, Clark. This certainly changes things. You always do bring me good information."

"Least I can do after you saved my skin few years ago," said Clark. "Heckin' werewolf hunters. Execution's the worst way to go. Well, I'd better get back before Greyback wonders where I've been. See ya sometime, Albus."

"See you sometime," repeated Dumbledore, smiling. He watched Clark go. The second he left, the smile dropped off of his face. "Aberforth, you needn't listen. But I need to talk things through." Dumbledore stood up and began to pace.

"Oh, joy," said Aberforth sarcastically.

"Armando is set on retiring, and I—forgive my arrogance—expect to be headmaster in a few months' time."

"Of course you do."

"Lyall was always a good man. He will raise Remus to be a good man as well, I am certain of it."

"If you think werewolves can be good."

"I do. And I think that, since Remus is so young now, he will have had a chance to adapt to the curse by the time he is eleven..."

"Oh no," said Aberforth. "Absolutely not."

"I heard that Lyall has married a Muggle. I believe her name is Hope. Remus might be nonmagical... but with Lyall's talent, I suspect that he is a wizard. I shall have to check, but I would not be surprised if his name is already down for Hogwarts. If I can create arrangements for full moons..."

"You're not planning on raising this boy to fight in the war, Albus."

"I thought you didn't like werewolves," said Dumbledore. "Don't worry. That is not my intention. I simply think that he has a right to an education, don't you? I can see many ways that this will be a success... but, if I am as magically competent as I believe myself to be... I cannot see many ways in which it can fail. If this works... yes, indeed, I can see it working," he said, more to himself than Aberforth, "and it could be life-changing for a great many people. Or perhaps just Remus Lupin. Either will satisfy me."

"You say that, but you only care about the greater good. None of that is true at all."

"It is certainly true," said Dumbledore quietly, "and I'll thank you to let me be my own person. I am changed. I have learned. And Remus Lupin will learn as well, if I have anything to do with it... except in a very different sense. He is young still, but in six years... six years. Yes. I shall... what is the expression?... put it on the back burner." He smiled. "Would you like a caramel toffee, Aberforth? In thanks?"

"A caramel toffee will not make up for your mistakes."

"No, but a caramel toffee certainly doesn't hurt..."

"I don't want your toffees."

"A couple Galleons?"

"I am not a charity case."

"A hug?"

"Don't touch me."

"You may have my scarf, but it's a bit old and probably too flamboyant for your tastes..."

"Get out of my pub so that I can reopen."

"Very well. Let me know if there's anything you ever need, Aberforth."

"I need you out of my life," Aberforth called, but Dumbledore was already halfway down the cobblestone street, humming Rossini's Barber of Seville overture.

All in all, it had been quite the productive day.

#albus dumbledore #hp fanfiction #marauders #remus lupin #young remus lupin #hogwarts #little bit of a prologue #tone change from the rest of my fic but i like it #aberforth dumbledore

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x0401x · 4 years ago

Text

Jeweler Richard Fanbook Short Story #3

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T/N: Okay, so, this is one of those chapters where the author makes mistakes in linguistics (but she’s trying, guys, she’s trying!). She writes “prasinon” as “prase” for some reason, and I took the liberty to fix it myself when translating.

Connecting Chrysoprase

Jewelry Etranger sat inconspicuously at Ginza 7-choume. The store owner, Richard, was the possessor of a beauty that you couldn’t think was from this world, but no matter how beautiful he was, once half a year had passed, you would get used to it. And as I got used to him, the questions also surfaced.

“Hey, Richard, don’t you have any favorite foods other than sweets? Do you eat ramen or anything like that?”

Mr. Richard Ranashinha de Vulpian looked at me with scrutinizing blue eyes. Sitting on the red sofa, he had been observing the contents of a large jewel box, holding them up over his head against the morning light shining in from the window.

“I find difficult to figure the aim of the question. Why ramen? I have had meals with you numerous times. I eat anything without likes or dislikes.”

“I know. It’s not like it’s limited to just ramen, but you don’t eat that kind of stuff much, do you?”

Like chives. Or garlic. Or grilled meat dripping with juices.

I knew that this didn’t suit his image. He was a man whose features seemed to have accidentally come out of a dream world. If he told me that he could live off eating department store sweets and pink roses, he could probably have me seriously convinced up to about 70%. That was exactly why I would feel like searching for a gap.

As I was about to ask if he understood this logic, Richard replied curtly with a clay doll-like face, “What ill intentions.”

That was true. I wasn’t some obsessive follower of an idol’s personal life or anything. Richard hit bull’s-eye with the deduction that I “probably ate ramen yesterday”. For some reason, things got awkward. I was in a position where it was better to retreat for a while. Time to change the subject.

“What stone is that? Looks like candy and it’s pretty cute.”

“A type of chalcedony. They are in the same category as crystals. In particular, this one with a milky apple-green color is called chrysoprase.

“Ah~...”

What Richard was pinching with his bare hands - because it was safer to touch it with bare skin rather than wearing gloves, he said, as it wouldn’t cause any damage - was a pale green, round stone. It had low transparency, was cut en cabochon and looked like an old-style candy.

“W-What was it again? The name. Chry...?”

“‘Chrysoprase’,” Richard repeated for me.

How many times had something like this happened? The stone’s name was in a Western language. Basically, all of them were in katakana. My ears did register it, but I couldn’t memorize it in one go at all. Richard was a helpful person, so there were times when he wrote down the names in romaji and explained them to me, but I honestly couldn’t keep up with him. There were countless stones in this world.

“Chryso... aah, no good. It’s hard to memorize.”

“‘Chrysoprase’. It is said to be a stone that helps to harmonize and integrate personalities. Medieval European literature also mentions it as a stone that Alexander the Great loved.”

Alexander the Great. A person I had learned about in high school. Even I knew that name. The fact that a stone adored by a warlord who had long passed away was still loved by people of the current times was thought-provoking. The range of the gemstone world was broad. But, well, leaving that as that.

“How d’you memorize stones’ names? It’s not like you’ve got some test to do like in a history class...”

“Do you think anyone would buy goods from a trader who cannot even say their names?”

“I don’t, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s hard. There’s lots of types and they sound like magic spells. Like ‘Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte’. It wouldn’t be weird if you felt like cheating without a care in the world. You got any trick for memorizing them?”

“My compliments to you for being able to pronounce the official name of Sri Lanka’s capital. But I cannot praise the part about carelessly deceiving people. Once your reputation falls to earth, it does not recover so easily. To begin with, your perception of business in general is too lax for someone enrolled in the Faculty of Economics. I know you have the aspiration, but if you do not pair it to practical abilities and skills, you will be running idle. Shouldn’t you try to improve these skills once again so that you can avoid unnecessary hardships in the future? Instead of obsessing over finding out something unexpected about the shopkeeper from your part-time job.”

The arguments were so spot-on that I was at a loss for words. Even so, still with a slightly exasperated face, Richard continued to speak. Most likely, it was his gentle side’s turn from here on out.

“Still, you are right, I do have a trick. If I were to use the capital as an example, ‘Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte’ had its original name ‘Kotte’ being embellished with the title of ‘President Jayawardene’s Sacred City’. When you know the origin of it, doesn’t this line-up of katakana letters that only appears in magic spells turn into meaningful words?”

“So it had that kind of meaning? I see...”

“Is this time to be impressed? Do the same and discover the relatedness of all kinds of matters in your daily life. If you direct your eyes to the depths of your history without sticking to the surface, I guarantee that your world will broaden much more richly.”

“Then what about the chrysoprase of just now?”

As I took a stab at arousing his enthusiasm, the volubly beautiful shop owner smiled gorgeously. I felt that this guy would stay in a good mood forever just as long as I gave him sweets and let him talk about gems. And I liked Richard’s face the most when he was in his best mood.

“This word is taken from the Greek language. It consists of two separate words, ‘chrysos’ and ‘prasinon’. The meaning of chrysos is ‘gold’. The bright golden that can be seen showing through within the green was associated with gold. Prasinon means...”

What happened? His enunciation suddenly got bad.

When I urged him to continue, Richard looked down at the stone in his hand with a dull look and sighed a little. “The meaning of prasinon... comes close to plants such as chives or green onions.”

“Ooh—!”

As I clapped my hands together with an “all paths lead to ramen”, Richard made a face like he had just woken up from a nightmare. What is it? Please laugh.

“In any case, the mental attitude of trying to master something is commendable. I pray that your efforts will bear fruit.”

“Thanks, thanks. Well, will you eat ramen after all?”

Mr. Richard, the jeweler, looked at me with an awfully sharp gaze. What was that face? His facial expression looked like the usual nuance that he was growing fond of my foolishness had increased to about 30%. Did he intend to poke fun on me?

“Yes, yes, I will.”

“What do you prefer? Like miso or soy sauce?”

“A large helping of green onions and garlic. And even then, it is good to grate raw garlic and put in it.”

“That’s a pretty hardcore taste for someone who works with close-contact service business.”

“Which is why this is not something I can eat whenever. I eat it carefully by myself when I do not have to meet anyone the next day.”

As my eyes widened, the beautiful storekeeper raised his chin arrogantly. Did he want to say that this didn’t suit his image or had it just unfolded anew?

“How was it, did you enjoy the so-called ‘gap’?”

“No, it’s not like that’s the main goal.”

“Hah?”

“I can’t invite anyone for a French cuisine restaurant or a high-class sweets store, but if it’s a ramen shop, there’s lots of them near my university. If you like, why don’t we go eat together next time? They’re mostly shops that seem better to drop by wearing a t-shirt rather than a suit, but I wanna try chatting with you while eating this kind of junky stuff every now and then.”

“For you to discover a new unexpected thing about me, you mean?”

“I just wanna get along with you better.”

For an instant, Richard’s facial expression strained hard. What was up? His face looked like he hadn’t known better and bit a sour pickled plum or something. As I furrowed my brows, his blue eyes narrowed, looking glum, while he closed the jewel box with a click and stood up.

“Ah, show me more. It wasn’t nearly enough—”

“The chrysoprase is said to have the power to put the balance of mind and body in order, as well as make it spring up comfortably. Perhaps because its fresh grass color is a reminder of spring. Isn’t this stone unnecessary for you, since you are always in a festive mood?”

“Why’re you angry?”

“I am not.”

“Shouldn’t you take a better look at the chrysoprase?”

“Thank you for the unnecessary meddling.”

Leaving me with things to say, Richard disappeared into the back room. Was it that bad to invite him to a ramen shop? It wasn’t a good idea to let him stay angry, so I voluntarily prepared two cups of royal milk tea in the kitchenette. Having come out into the reception room, Richard said nothing more than the expected as he drank a tea that had a little more sugar in it than usual.

After the customer of that morning had gone home, Richard showed me the chrysoprase once again. Upon a better look, I understood the meaning of that naming, which I couldn’t think of as anything more than a mystery at first. Didn’t the people of ancient times think that this was a plant born from gold? The uneven surface was smooth and wavy like an organic body. Chrysoprase. Gold and green onions. Even though there were several gems in this world, I would probably never forget the name of this one. If I ever got to eat ramen with Richard someday, I would definitely bring up this stone.

“Do you remember that talk?” I would ask.

#jeweler richard #housekishou richard shi no nazo kantei #nakata seigi #the case files of jeweler richard #richard ranashinha de vulpian #tsujimura nanako #yukihiro utako #novel #my translation #fanbook #jr short story collection

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whencartoonsruletheworld · 4 years ago

Link

Disney but just the Queer Mood™ Songs, a full Spotify Playlist

Open to updates should anyone notice a song I missed!

Tracklist with specific lyrics that fuck us all up under the cut:

KEY: A general list of which songs resonate with people. The 🏳️‍🌈is for general songs; if you relate to a song but don’t see ur emoji beneath it, send me a message and I’ll add it!

🏳️‍🌈 General Queer Anthem 🌈 Gays specifically have related to this song ❤️ Gay Men specifically have related to this song 🧡 Lesbians specifically have related to this song 💕 Bisexuals/Pansexuals specifically have related to this song 💜 Asexuals/Ace-spectrum people specifically have related to this song 💚 Aromatics/Aro-spectrum people specifically have related to this song 🤍 Trans people have specifically related to this song 🖤 Nonbinary/Genderqueer people have specifically related to this song 💗 Polyamorous people have specifically related to this song

Know Who You Are - Moana

🏳️‍🌈

They have stolen the heart from inside you But this does not define you This is not who you are You know who you are...

I Wonder - Sleeping Beauty

🌈🧡

I wonder, I wonder, I wonder why each little bird has a someone To sing to, sweet things to, A gay little love melody I wonder, I wonder, I wonder if my heart keeps singing, Will my song go winging To someone, who'll find me And bring back a love song to me...

Mother Knows Best - Tangled

🏳️‍🌈 honestly this is just... a general song for some of our shitty relationships to guardian figures...

It's a scary world out there Mother knows best One way or another Something will go wrong, I swear

Me, I'm just your mother, what do I know? I only bathed and changed and nursed you Go ahead and leave me, I deserve it Let me die alone here, be my guest When it's too late You'll see, just wait Mother knows best

Don't forget it You'll regret it...

Dangerous to Dream - Frozen Broadway Production

🏳️‍🌈

I can't be what you expect of me But I'm trying every day with all I do and do not say Here on the edge of the abyss Knowing everything in my whole life has lead to this And so I pull inside myself, close the walls, put up my guard I've practiced every single day for this So why is it so hard?

I can't dwell on what we've lost And our secrecy and silence comes at such a cost

I wish I could tell the truth Show you who's behind the door I wish you knew what all this pantomime And pageantry was for

It's dangerous to wish I could make choices of my own Dangerous to even have that thought I'm dangerous just standing here for everyone to see If I let go of rules who knows how dangerous I'd be?

Reflection - Mulan

🏳️‍🌈🤍🖤- literally everyone requested this. everyone. so im just copy-pasting the entire lyrics sorry not sorry

Look at me, I will never pass for a perfect bride Or a perfect daughter Can it be I'm not meant to play this part? Now I see that if I were truly to be myself I would break my family's heart

Who is that girl I see staring straight back at me? Why is my reflection someone I don't know? Somehow I cannot hide who I am, though I’ve tried When will my reflection show who I am inside?

How I pray that a time will come I can free myself From their expectations On that day, I'll discover someway to be myself And to make my family proud They want a docile lamb No one knows who I am Must there be a secret me I'm forced to hide? Must I pretend that I'm Someone else for all time? When will my reflection show Who I am inside? When will my reflection show Who I am inside?

Everything I Ever Thought I Knew - Tangled: The Series

🏳️‍🌈 when u realize u might not be straight lol

I thought no one could love me And how could I have known? I was wrong, oh so wrong

Everything I ever thought I knew Where I've been, where I'm going Everything I counted on turned out to be untrue Could've guessed, should've known, now I do

If none of it was really me then who am I supposed to be?

I guess I'm someone else now I wonder who I am

God Help the Outcasts - Hunchback of Notre Dame

🏳️‍🌈...yeah. yeah

Yes, I know I'm just an outcast I shouldn't speak to You Still, I see Your face and wonder Were You once an outcast, too?

God help the outcasts, hungry from birth Show them the mercy they don't find on Earth God help my people, they look to You, still God help the outcasts or nobody will

I ask for nothing, I can get by But I know so many less lucky than I Please help my people, the poor and downtrod I thought we all were the children of God

Belle (Reprise) - Beauty and the Beast

🌈 when a cishet thinks ur interested smh

Madame Gaston! Can't you just see it? Madame Gaston! His little wife No, sir! Not me! I guarantee it I want much more than this provincial life!

I want adventure in the great wide somewhere I want it more than I can tell And for once it might be grand To have someone understand I want so much more than they've got planned...

Part of Your World - The Little Mermaid

🌈 SO many people requested this one guys it’s not even funny

Wandering free, wish I could be Part of that world

Betcha on land, they understand Bet they don't reprimand their daughters Bright young women, sick of swimming Ready to stand

When's it my turn? Wouldn't I love, Love to explore that shore up above?

One Jump Ahead (Reprise) - Aladdin

🏳️‍🌈

Riff-raff, street rat I don't buy that If only they'd look closer

Would they see a poor boy? No, siree They'd find out There's so much more to me...

Proud of Your Boy - Aladdin Broadway Production

🏳️‍🌈❤️🤍

That I've been one rotten kid Some son, some pride and some joy But I'll get over these lousin' up Messin' up, screwin' up times...

Water flows under the bridge Let it pass, let it go There's no good reason that you should believe me Not yet, I know, but

Someday and soon I'll make you proud of your boy Though I can't make myself taller Or smarter or handsome or wise I'll do my best, what else can I do? Since I wasn't born perfect like Dad or you...

Someone’s Waiting for You - The Rescuers

🏳️‍🌈

Be brave, little one Make a wish for each sad little tear Hold your head up though no one is near Someone's waiting for you

Always keep a little prayer in your pocket And you're sure to see the light Soon there'll be joy and happiness And your little world will be bright

Have faith, little one Til your hopes and your wishes come true

Stick to the Status Quo - High School Musical

🏳️‍🌈 🌈 YOU ALL KNOW EXACTLY WHY THIS IS HERE

No, no, no, stick to the stuff you know It is better by far to keep things as they are Don't mess with the flow, no no Stick to the status quo

Into the Unknown - Frozen 2

🏳️‍🌈

I can hear you, but I won't Some look for trouble while others don't There's a thousand reasons I should go about my day And ignore your whispers which I wish would go away

I've had my adventure, I don't need something new I'm afraid of what I'm risking if I follow you

Or are you someone out there who's a little bit like me? Who knows deep down I'm not where I'm meant to be? Every day's a little harder as I feel my power grow Don't you know there's part of me that longs to go

Where are you going? Don't leave me alone How do I follow you Into the unknown?

Go the Distance - Hercules

🏳️‍🌈

I have often dreamed of a far off place Where a great, warm welcome will be waiting for me

And a voice keeps saying This is where I'm meant to be

I am on my way, I can go the distance I don't care how far, somehow I'll be strong I know every mile will be worth my while I would go most anywhere to find where I belong

Tomorrow - Annie

🏳️‍🌈 - betcha didnt know disney had an annie movie did u

The sun will come out tomorrow Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow There'll be sun

When I'm stuck in a day that's gray and lonely, I just stick out my chin and grin and say, oh, The sun’ll come out tomorrow So you gotta hang on til tomorrow, come what may...

Learn Me Right - Brave

🏳️‍🌈💜💚

Though I may speak some tongue of old Or even spit out some holy word I have no strength with which to speak When you sit me down and see I’m weak

We will run and scream you will dance with me We'll fulfill our dreams, and we'll be free We will be who we are, and they’ll heal our scars Sadness will be far away...

Strange Sight - Tinkerbell and the Legend of the Neverbeast

🏳️‍🌈

You stand in the light You're wrong, but you're right And my heart's beating wildly Strange how I'm scared but delighted Afraid, but excited too

I will understand you Strange how I'm drawn to the danger I reach out my hand to you

If you're caught in the shadows and turned all around Lost in the darkness, you will be found If you hear my voice, follow the sound Cause I'm here to guide you home...

I Don’t Dance - High School Musical 2

🌈 ❤️ 💕 okay so if you weren’t here for the high school musical tumblr revival you may be confused but listen... it’s about being mlm...

Step up to the plate, start swinging

I wanna play ball Now that’s all, this is what I do It ain’t no dance that you can show me

I’ve got what it takes playin’ my game So you best skin that pitch you gonna throw me, yeah I’ll show you how I swing

I can prove it to you ‘til you know it’s true Cause I can swing it, I can bring it to the diamond too You’re talking a lot, show me what you got Stop, swing!

Kiss the Girl - cover of The Little Mermaid

this version is sung by a girl so 🧡💕

There you see her, sitting there across the way She don't got a lot to say but there's something about her And you don't know why, but you're dying to try You wanna kiss the girl

Yes, you want her Look at her, you know you do It's possible she want you too There is one way to ask her...

Can You Feel the Love Tonight - The Lion King

🏳️‍🌈

An enchanted moment And it sees me through It's enough for this restless warrior Just to be with you

There's a time for everyone if they only learn That the twisting kaleidoscope moves us all in turn There's a rhyme and reason to the wild outdoors When the heart of this star-crossed voyager Beats in time with yours

And can you feel the love tonight? It is where we are It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer That we got this far And can you feel the love tonight? How it's laid to rest It's enough to make kings and vagabonds Believe the very best

Beauty and the Beast - Beauty and the Beast

🏳️‍🌈- a lot of queer people tend to empathize with “beastly” characters so we all latched the fuck onto this movie huh

Just a little change, small to say the least Both a little scared, neither one prepared

Ever just the same, ever a surprise Ever as before, ever just as sure As the sun will rise

Tale as old as time, tune as old as song Bittersweet and strange, finding you can change Learning you were wrong...

Healing Incantation - Tangled

🏳️‍🌈🤍🖤

Heal what has been hurt Change the fates' design Save what has been lost Bring back what once was mine

So Close - Enchanted

🏳️‍🌈🌈

A life goes by, romantic dreams will stop So I bid mine goodbye and never knew So close was waiting waiting here with you And now, forever, I know All that I wanted to hold you so close

Oh, how could I face the faceless days If I should lose you now?

So close to reaching that famous happy end Almost believing this one's not pretend Let’s go on dreaming though we know we are So close, so close, and still So far...

If Only - Descendants

🏳️‍🌈🌈

A million thoughts in my head Should I let my heart keep listening? Cause up 'til now, I've walked the line Nothing lost but something missing I can't decide what's wrong, what's right Which way should I go?

Every step, every word With every hour I'm feeling in To something new, something brave To someone I've never been

Will you still be with me When the magic's all run out?

If only I knew what my heart was telling me Don't know what I'm feeling Is this just a dream? If only I could read the signs in front of me I could find the way to who I'm meant to be

Wherever You Are - Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin

🏳️‍🌈- out of context could be interpreted as romantic, esp since the credits version is a duet (🌈 💕) but the original context is friendship so honestly it’s very 💜💚

I'm out here in the dark, all alone and wide awake Come and find me I'm empty and I'm cold, and my heart's about to break Come and find me

I need you to come here and find me Cause without you, I'm totally lost I've hung a wish on every star It hasn't done much good so far I can only dream of you

But when the morning comes and the sun begins to rise, I will lose you Because it’s just a dream, when I open up my eyes, I will lose you

I used to believe in forever, But forever is too good to be true I've hung a wish on every star It hasn't done much good so far

I don't know what else to do Except to try to dream of you And wonder, if you're dreaming too Wherever you are

I Won’t Say (I’m In Love) - Hercules

🏳️‍🌈 🌈 💕

If there's a prize for rotten judgment, I guess I've already won that

Who d'you think you're kiddin'? He's the earth and heaven to ya Try to keep it hidden Honey, we can see right through ya Girl, you can't conceal it We know how you feel And who you're thinking of

I thought my heart had learned its lesson It feels so good when you start out My head is screaming "Get a grip, girl!" Unless you're dying to cry your heart out

You keep on denying Who you are and how you're feeling Baby, we're not buying Hon, we saw you hit the ceiling

This scene won't play I won't say I'm in love

At least out loud, I won't say I'm in love

Endless Night - The Lion King Broadway Production

🏳️‍🌈🤍 🖤

Where has the starlight gone? Dark is the day How can I find my way home? Home is an empty dream, lost to the night Father, I feel so alone

When will the dawning break, oh, endless night Sleepless I dream of the day

I know that the night must end And that the sun will rise I know that the clouds must clear And that the sun will shine

Set Yourself Free - Tangled: The Series

🏳️‍🌈🤍

There's much more inside of you than anyone can see And now the choice is yours Life waits beyond the doors So step on through, the time has come And only you can set yourself free!

No one else can tell you what to do Or who to be! No one gets to say if you will stay or go

Look inside your heart and find the key... And set yourself free!

Bound up by your worries Trapped by your mistakes Forced to play a role you never chose Why not test your limits? You've got what it takes Let it out and follow where it goes

No more letting someone else define you to a "T" You know that you are strong You've known it all along So seize the day, let down your hair You’ll find a way to set yourself free!

So look to the horizon Open up your wings! Fly away to find your destiny... And set yourself free!

Speechless - Aladdin 2019 Remake

🏳️‍🌈 ALL OF US ALL OF US

Here comes a wave meant to wash me away A tide that is taking me under

Cause I'll breathe when they try to suffocate me! Don't you underestimate me! Cause I know that I won't go speechless!

Written in stone, every rule, every word Centuries old and unbending "Stay in your place, better seen and not heard," Well, now that story is ending

Try to lock me in this cage! I won't just lay me down and die! I will take these broken wings And watch me burn across the sky!

I’m Still Here (Jim’s Theme) - Treasure Planet

🏳️‍🌈❤️🤍

I am a question to the world Not an answer to be heard Or a moment that's held in your arms

You don't know me And I'll never be what you want me to be

And what do you think you'd understand I'm a boy - No, I'm a man You can't take me and throw me away And how can you learn what's never shown Yeah, you stand here on your own They don't know me, cause I’m not here

And I want to tell you who I am Can you help me be a man They can't break me As long as I know who I am

They can't tell me who to be 'Cause I'm not what they see Yeah, the world is still sleepin' While I keep on dreaming for me And their words are just whispers and lies That I'll never believe!

Crossing the Line - cover of Tangled: the Series

🏳️‍🌈 🧡 tfw when u are DONE with that fuckin closet

This has to stop now This thing where you think that you've been my friend And don't even hear how you condescend The way you've always done

How I've tried to jump that great divide! But I've never got the chances you were given You don't know how much I've been denied Well, I'm not being patient anymore

I'm crossing the line! And I'm done holding back So look out, clear the track, it's my turn! I'm taking what's mine Every drop, every smidge If I'm burning a bridge, let it burn! But I'm crossing the line...

Let it Go - Frozen

🏳️‍🌈 listen. i do not have to explain this one. you all know exactly why it’s here. we were all tiny gays in 2013 losing our shit in the theater for no discernable reason why. we know

Couldn't keep it in, Heaven knows I tried

Don't let them in, don't let them see Be the good girl you always have to be Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know Well, now they know!

Let it go! Let it go! Turn away and slam the door! I don't care what they're going to say!

It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small And the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all!

No right, no wrong, no rules for me I'm free!

I'm never going back, the past is in the past!

Let it go! Let it go! And I'll rise like the break of dawn Let it go! Let it go! That perfect girl is gone!

This is Me - Camp Rock

🏳️‍🌈 🧡 💕 🤍

I've always been the kind of girl that hid my face So afraid to tell the world what I've got to say But I have this dream right inside of me I'm gonna let it show it's time To let you know It's to let you know

Do you know what it's like to feel so in the dark? To dream about a life where you're the shining star

This is real, this is me I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, now Gonna let the light shine on me Now I've found who I am there's no way to hold it in No more hiding who I wanna be...

Breaking Free - High School Musical

🏳️‍🌈 🖤

You know the world can see us In a way that's different than who we are Creating space between us 'Till we're separate hearts But your faith it gives me strength Strength to believe

Soarin, flyin There’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach If we’re trying, yeah we’re breaking free We’re running, climbin To get to the place, to be all that we can be Now’s the time, so we’re breaking free

True To Your Heart - Mulan

🏳️‍🌈 🌈

Baby, I knew at once that you were meant for me Deep in my soul, I know that I'm your destiny Though you're unsure Why fight the tide Don't think so much Let your heart decide

True to your heart You must be true to your heart That's when the heavens'll part And, baby, shower you with my love Open your eyes Your heart can tell you no lies And when you're true to your heart I know it's gonna lead you straight to me

Someone ya know is on your side can set you free I can do that for you if you believe in me Why second guess what feels so right Just trust your heart And you'll see the light

Never Knew I Needed - The Princess and the Frog

🏳️‍🌈 🌈 💕

For the way you changed my plans For being the perfect distraction For the way you took the idea that I have Of everything that I wanted to have And made me see there was something missing...

My accidental happily ever after The way you smile and how you comfort me with your laughter I must admit you were not a part of my book But now if you open it up and take a look You're the beginning and the end of every chapter

You're the best thing I never knew I needed So when you were here I had no idea You'd be the best thing I never knew I needed So now it's so clear I need you here always

Colors of the Wind - Pocahontas

🏳️‍🌈 - colors.... rainbows.... yea

How can there be so much that you don't know? You don't know...

You think the only people who are people Are the people who look and think like you But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger You'll learn things you never knew, you never knew

How high will the sycamore grow If you cut it down, then you'll never know And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon For whether we are white or copper skinned We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains We need to paint with all the colors of the wind...

I See the Light - Tangled

🏳️‍🌈 🌈 - you would not BELIEVE how many of y’all requested this one

Now I'm here, blinking in the starlight Now I'm here, suddenly I see Standing here, it's all so clear I'm where I'm meant to be

Now she's here shining in the starlight Now she's here, suddenly I know If she's here it's crystal clear I'm where I'm meant to go

And at last I see the light And it's like the fog has lifted And at last I see the light And it's like the sky is new And it's warm and real and bright And the world has somehow shifted

All at once, everything looks different Now that I see you

Strangers Like Me - Tarzan

🏳️‍🌈 🤍 🖤- that moment when u find another queer person and ur like “holy shit”

I can see there's so much to learn It's all so close and yet so far I see myself as people see me Oh, I just know there's something bigger out there

Come with me now to see my world Where there's beauty beyond your dreams Can you feel the things I feel Right now, with you Take my hand There's a world I need to know...

Why Should I Worry? - Oliver & Company

🏳️‍🌈- we’re queer, we’re here, get used to it

Why should I worry? Why should I care? I may not have a dime But I got street savoir-faire Why should I worry? Why should I care? It's just be-bopulation And I got street savoir-faire

Why should I worry? Why should I care? And even when I crossed that line I got street savoir-faire

Welcome - Brother Bear

🏳️‍🌈 pride parade amirite

Everyone's invited This is how we live We are here for each other, happy to give All we have we share And all of us we care

There's a bond between us nobody can explain It's a celebration of life We see our friends again I'll be there for you I know you'll be there for me, too So come on!

This has to be the most beautiful The most peaceful place I've ever been to It's nothing like I've never seen before When I think how far I've come I can't believe it And yet I see it In them I see family I see the way we used to be...

The Great Divide - Tinkerbell and the Secret of the Wings

🏳️‍🌈

I'm on your side Let's take this ride And together we're facing the world Doing things nobody's done before And the great divide doesn’t seem so wide anymore

With You by My Side - Tangled: the Series

💗 - tangled the series was so close to being canon polyam istg

Now; now more than ever We must stick together united

If we're destined to head in our own different ways Let's make the most of these sweet final days Why not go out in a glorious blaze

There's nothing I couldn't do Not with you by my side What in the world would I do Without you by my side...

Love Will Find a Way - The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride

🏳️‍🌈 🌈

In a perfect world One we've never known We would never need to face the world alone They can have the world We'll create our own I may not be brave or strong or smart But somewhere in my secret heart

And if only they could feel it too The happiness I feel with you

Like dark turning into day Somehow we'll come through Now that I've found you Love will find a way I know love will find a way

Space Between - Descendants 2

🧡 never have i ever seen gays flock to a song faster

And you can find me in the space between Where two worlds come to meet I'll never be out of reach Cause you're a part of me so you can find me in the space between You'll never be alone No matter where you go We can meet in the space between

Even if we're worlds apart You're still in my heart It will always be you and me, yeah

If I Never Knew You - Pocahontas

🏳️‍🌈🌈

And if I never held you I would never have a clue How at last I'd find in you The missing part of me...

In this world so full of fear Full of rage and lies I can see the truth so clear In your eyes So dry your eyes

If I never knew you I'd be safe but half as real Never knowing I could feel A love so strong and true

I thought our love would be so beautiful Somehow we'd make the whole world bright I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong All they'd leave us were these whispers in the night But still my heart is saying we were right

I’d Give Anything - Tangled: the Series

🧡 rapunzel’s sad breakup song

So if you find that you're in darkness or despair Though you won't turn to me please know I'll be right there Name any sacrifice, I'll pay the price that's due Cause I'd give anything for you Yes, I'd give anything to relive everything we knew...

Someday - Hunchback of Notre Dame

🏳️‍🌈

I used to believe In the days I was naïve That I'd live to see A day of justice dawn And though I will die Long before that morning comes I'll die while believing still It will come when I am gone

Someday, when we are wiser When the world's older, when we have learned I pray someday we may yet live To live and let live

Someday, these dreams will all be real Till then we'll wish upon the moon Change will come, one day Someday soon...

No One Is Alone - Into the Woods

🏳️‍🌈

Mother cannot guide you, now your on your own. Only me beside you, still you're not alone. No one is alone. Truly, no one is alone…

People make mistakes Holding to their own Thinking they’re alone

Someone is on your side, someone else is not While we’re seeing our side, maybe we forgot They are not alone, no one is alone...

I Am Moana (Song of the Ancestors) - Moana

🏳️‍🌈 🤍 - it’s about the self-acceptance binch

Sometimes, the world seems against you The journey may leave a scar But scars can heal and reveal just Where you are

The people you love will change you The things you have learned will guide you And nothing on Earth can silence The quiet voice still inside you

I've delivered us to where we are I have journeyed farther I am everything I've learned and more Still it calls me

And the call isn't out there at all, it's inside me! It's like the tide, always falling and rising I will carry you here in my heart, you remind me That come what may I know the way

Show Yourself - Frozen 2

🏳️‍🌈 - this one was claimed immediately by the queer community and we all have a stake in it but i do want to point out that i got this from a LOT of 🤍 🖤 💜 💚

I have always been a fortress Cold secrets deep inside You have secrets too But you don't have to hide

I've never felt so certain All my life, I've been torn But I'm here for a reason Could it be the reason I was born? I have always been so different Normal rules did not apply Is this the day? Are you the way I finally find out why?

Oh, show yourself Let me see who you are... Come to me now Open your door Don't make me wait One moment more!

(Come, my darling, homeward bound) I am found!

Transformation / Beauty and the Beast (Reprise) - Beauty and the Beast Broadway Production

🏳️‍🌈

We are home, we are where we shall be forever Trust in me, for you know I won’t run away from today This is all that I need, and all that I need to say Don’t you know how you’ve changed me? Strange how I finally see I found home, you’re my home, stay with me...

Finale / Let it Go - Frozen Broadway Production

🏳️‍🌈 this makes me bawl so it gets finale

There’s so much I longed to say Then say it all, beginning with today It’s like a dream I thought could never be Elsa, you’re free

Here we stand in the light of day Let the sun shine on

I take this warmth within and send it up above Goodbye to dark and fear, let’s fill this world with light and love And here surrounded by a family at least We’re never going back, the past is in the past

Let our true love go Let it go!

#disney #disney songs #queer #lgbt #lgbtq #mine

67 notes · View notes

cafedanslanuit · 5 years ago

Note

(Hey! I'm from South America too! Yayyyy!) What if Jumin got stucked quarantined with MC on her parents house and she got a cold (no covid symptoms) and MC's parents were the overbearing nosy type (you know, latino parents 😂)? Would Jumin side with them and their home remedies? What to do when you can't make use of all your money instead😱? Lol! Thanks! 🤡

I’m a simple girl, I see a request for a latina MC and I write it down <3 So yaaaay! So nice to have you reading my blog~ I had SO MUCH FUN writing these headcanons! I tried to make MC’s parents feel as a couple of VERY latino parents without falling into stereotypes and I think I got it. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it <3

important note: even if this is set in the current pandemic, it’s very light and fun, so have no worries! <3 and there are no mentions of the virus, so nobody feels triggered ~

.❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。 .❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。 .❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。 .❀。• *₊°。

Listen, Jumin is a man of SCIENCE. He may not understand it completely but this man is a very preoccupied caretaker when it comes to MC getting sick. He has a personal doctor that will come at any hour to the penthouse and do a check up even if all she has is the stomach flu.

MC isn’t used to that, but he lets her husband take care of her. It feels nice to see how much Jumin cares about her well-being.

They were visiting her parents in South America, whom they hadn’t seen since the wedding. Jumin hadn’t really been to MC’s hometown before, so he was looking forward doing some sightseeing, tourism and trying new commoner foods he just had to try, as MC said. He didn’t know what the big deal was about this salchipapa, it was just fried sausage and french fries, but MC was really excited about taking him to a food truck and making him have a bite of everything.

But the pandemic started.

At first, MC was sad about they not being able to do any kind of tourism while on her country, as she was looking forward teaching Jumin about her culture. They planned to stay in a hotel, but MC’s parents insisted they both stayed with them to save money and also have their daughter close. Considering it would be a good idea to take care of her folks in that situation, they agreed.

Everyone had agreed to speak English in the house as he didn’t understand Spanish quite well yet and MC’s parents didn’t understand Korean at all.

Jumin didn’t understand latino parents.

And no, he didn’t mean in in a bad way. He knew how much MC loved her parents and it was obvious they loved her too, but the amount of boundaries they had broken and how unphased MC seemed was really confusing.

For starters, her mom would randomly knock their bedroom door and bring them both a warm drink made of oatmeal and apples. It’s sweet, warm and suddenly he’s not feeling cold anymore.

“What’s this called, my love?” “Quaker.” “Yeah, that’s the brand of the oatmeal but what’s the drink called.” “…Quaker” “That’s what you call it?” “…Apple quaker?”

Another day, he was reading on his Kindle in the living room, when MC’s mother approached him, asking him what he wished to have for dinner, as everyone had already had their favourite dish in the week. He was startled and didn’t feel comfortable saying he liked steak or any other dish he actually liked, considering he knew MC’s parents weren’t wealthy enough to eat what he did on a daily basis.

Thankfully, MC saved him and told her mom she should prepare bisteck a lo pobre, and that he would probably like that.

“Bisteck?” “Yeah, beef steak.” “…But you said bisteck.” “It’s steak with fried egg and fried bananas and rice. It’s actually really good, trust me on this.”

Jumin also found out they ate rice with every dish. And he meant it. Every. Single. Dish.

Bisteck a lo pobre was really good though.

After lunch, the four of them would always stay on the table and chat a little. MC’s parents would take that chance to ask him about their lives in Korea, how were you adapting to a married life, if you were planning to have children soon, what funny stories he could them them about C&R etc. (spoiler: he didn’t think there were funny stories happening in C&R)

They also liked to tell him embarrassing stories about MC’s time in highschool, which made her blush deep red, even though he found those stories endearing.

He liked to see them taking care of you both, but couldn’t help but compare it to his relationship with his own father, who loved him as well but wasn’t as warm and… interested with his relationship as MC’s parents were. It was nice, but really new for him.

Three weeks into the confinement, MC came down with the flu.

Jumin asked MC’s father what was their number of their personal physician. He answered they didn’t have one, they just went to the hospital whenever someone was ill.

Jumin: ????

Since it was only the flu and nothing else to worry about (Jumin had ended up calling a private laboratory to test MC and she was negative), all they had to do was wait for her symptoms to go away. Jumin suggested they call a pharmacy and buy some pills, but MC’s mother called nonsense. There was no need for ingesting so many chemicals.

Jumin: ?????????????????

He was reading to MC in their bedroom, trying to get her to relax, when her mom knocked the door. After MC asked her to come in, she entered the room, smiling softly at the newlyweds.

“Baby, it's time for your inhalaciones de eucalipto" “Yes mom, let me just grab a towel"

As MC stood up, Jumin looked at her confused.

“A towel? In... all-- what?"

"Oh, steam inhalations. My mom puts some eucalipto leaves on a bowl with boiling water. I sit on the floor and cover myself and the bowl with a towel and breathe deep” she explained, as she took a towel from the closet.

“Like a sauna?”

“Yes! Just like that. Eucalipto helps with breathing”

Jumin never thought he would see her wife grab a bowl of boiling water with leaves, sit on the floor and cover herself with a towel but there she was. Giggling at her confusion, she invited him under the towel, saying there was no harm in him being with you there. He obliged to her request.

Ten seconds later, Jumin stood up, coughing, as he felt ice on his lungs.

“What was that plant?!” he asked in between coughs

“Sorry! I forgot my mom also put Vick Vaporub in it”

“YOU’RE BREATHING VICK VAPORUB?”

“IT’S FOR THE LUNGS”

The same night, you spiked a low fever. As Jumin changed again the wet cloth on your forehead, he heard your mother knocking on the door again. She showed MC a white bottle with a red cap and immediately he saw his wife’s eyes widening in horror.

“No” “But it’ really good for--” “No, no way” “But MC…” “Mom, I can’t stand thymoline…”

MC explained to Jumin it was usual for people in your country to soak the cloth in thymoline, since it supposedly helped lower the fever, but you couldn’t stand the smell. Seeing you mother insisted it was better than just water, he decided to check if it really had such a bad odor as MC said.

No, it didn’t.

It was worse.

The next day, the fever was gone, but MC still had a runny nose. For breakfast, her mother replaced quaker with a suspiciously good smelling tea. And he was a sucker for new tea.

“What’s in there, dear?” he asked

“Hmmm, what was in it, mom?” MC asked, redirecting the question to her mother.

“Borraja, escorzonera, eucalipto, menta and muña” she explained.

“Ah, Eucalipto. The one you used for the sauna” he remembered.

“Yes, that one. Would you like a cup too? It could help you prevent from getting the flu too” MC’s mom offered.

Jumin looked at MC, doubtful

“It doesn’t have Vaporub, right?”

“It doesn’t” MC giggled. “This one tastes actually good”

“Yes, thank you.”

When MC was about to take a sip, her father cleared his throat, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

“What do we say before taking medicine?” he asked

“En nombre de Dios” MC sighed, and took her first sip. She then looked at Jumin and explained to him. “En nombre de Dios. In the name of God. Dad and mom always told me I should say that so the medicine works”

“Weren’t you an atheist?” Jumin asked. He couldn’t barely finish his question before MC began coughing loudly, gaining her folks attention. Once she regained her breath, she shot him a warning glare.

“Don’t say that in front of them!” she whispered. “They hate it when I say that. They think you made me convert back to christianity so let’s keep it like that”.

The symptoms disappeared in the course of three days with MC’s mom’s herbal remedies. Even if he couldn’t understand how MC could breathe Vick, he really enjoyed the tea her mom made for them both.

Jumin felt at ease chatting with her father or trying out new teas her mother made for him. He found out he didn’t have so hard to get along with them, as they were also welcoming him into their family.

Even if it was still new for him to see parents as invested in their daughter’s life as hers, he could see where did MC learn to be warm and caring as she was with him. Someday, he decided, he would go back again with his wife to do the tourism they couldn’t do this time and bring back as many of her mother’s herbal teas as he could.

#mystic messenger #jumin han #jumin x mc #mm jumin #mystic messenger headcanons #mysme headcanons #mysme hcs #mystic messenger hcs #mysme

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scribeofthenewworld · 4 years ago

Text

A Cynical Ode to the Angel of Death

The Angel of Death makes their rounds when they pass through town,

rapping on doors and peering through windows,

following what I presume to be their usual morning routine.

I leave milk and honey out for them sometimes, though they never take it.

They ride in on the winds of time then leave just as quickly with the morning train,

pulling their souls behind them as they retreat,

and leaving the dawn in their wake.

Oh, do not wake to that dawn, to that red sun,

stained in lamb’s blood, and do not speak ill of the night,

for the moon in a cloudless heaven hears much.

Say first, for nothing is hidden from its view,

and still we march on, two by two.

Shall I fear a night with no moon? Is darkness

the greatest bane of man? Or is it simply a metaphor

for what we do not understand?

I will contemplate these questions over toast and tea.

Alas, could my own questions be haunting me?

Pray, do not ask me, do not ask! …and do not tell

what thoughts may linger beneath the protective shell

of hard bone, holding our minds oh so close.

Think first, for nothing is hidden from our view,

and still we march on, two by two.

That when the trumpet sounds— come! — my old acquaintance

will make their rounds again, though this time

with poignance and not a little urgency.

The brass mingles with the winds, then, to be joined again by a choir—

oh, what will they sing?

An orchestra to orchestrate an end, an apocalyptic

concert to send mankind off with style—

with a bang, not a whimper, and a blaze of glory fit for a supernova

or a deep tract of Hell. Fire or ice?

But I consider death too much for one so young,

and not even stars last forever.

The shiny, fake gold had better stay far, far away from me.

I want to be glass and wood, not burnished bronze.

Natural metals shine too bright and tarnish too fast,

and I have known the sort of people who prefer money to time.

Bronze is for the trumpets of my friends, at any rate,

and gold— real gold— is reserved for the shining gates,

while the stones in all the gaudy colours of this earth

would better adorn our fingers here and forget their worth.

Is this a subject of great mirth?

Perhaps. Yet money is fake and still the root of all evil,

and still it cannot buy happiness, or love, or time,

or the friendship of the Angel of Death who does not

take my milk and honey but appreciates it nonetheless.

Can any man reconcile truly his mortality? But

apathy begets entropy of the absolute angriest sort.

Let us follow one another through the streets on a whim,

strutting off on half-baked adventures to distant lands or to the corner store.

We long for something more, something real,

for which we search high and low.

Seek and ye shall find, it is said, but we are still looking.

Perhaps it is hidden before our very eyes,

like the key to happiness that fits a lock that has been open all along.

The cage is in our minds— Adventure Awaits.

The door swings open on rusted hinges and there we are,

blinking in the sunlight. Oh, Deliver us!

We long for the sea, and we drift or march in its direction, eventually, two by two.

What is a man but a puzzle to solve?

What are problems but solutions yet unfound?

What is a question— what is it?

A man’s vision of justice can prove horribly distorted.

Ghosts of the past, please speak to us—

can redemption be found for men? Can there be some

ever-mounting sense of conscience to wash away our sins?

This is an era of guilt and questions.

Our mortality could prove simply an excuse,

a scapegoat that points and shouts— there! —

while we pick and choose which moments to twiddle our thumbs over.

Oh, to measure our lives in days, but what is the true measure of a man?

Pictures painted, wealth accumulated, children reared?

Perhaps this, and so much more.

Any man who gripes over life will come to naught,

for we are self-made creatures, though we be of flesh and bone and blood.

Organic to our roots, yet more, so much more!

The man’s sense of self trembles, flickers, yet lingers

all about him, even long after it has gone.

What we are in life, will we remain in death? In memory?

I know not— ask my friend.

Perhaps they have the answers that we so crave,

or, perhaps, they are only the messenger, the guide of souls.

The Angel of Death makes their rounds when they blow through town,

sneaking and seeking for the subdued souls who have served their sentence.

I always wave when they pass, secretly hoping that they stay away, far away!

That they will nod, smile, say “hello again, but today’s not your time.”

Take the broken and the world-weary, but leave me, leave me!

And thus far, they always do, sniffing at my milk and honey

then leaving it, giving me a nod, a pat on the head even,

before whisking away another, more willing soul than I.

Some of them do weep— oh, to leave this world,

they must! — but none battle, none rave.

Perhaps that will be me someday.

When the Angel of Death comes for me, will it come

as an old friend, I wonder? Will we smile,

nod, embrace before departing together?

I think so. I hope so.

How long, I wonder, are we to linger?

Will we ride the waves of the world,

dizzy on the ecstasy of life, or will we cry

that it isn’t fair, it’s not fair! when our time

for mountains and valleys, peaks and troughs, crests and slopes, has ended?

Will I eat an octopus? Shall I dye my hair in shades of lavender and emerald?

Should I buy a watch encrusted with jewels, or a sailboat?

I will open and shut any door I choose,

and light any candle I see.

I hope that when the whole world sings,

they will be singing to me.

#writing #poem #poetry #poems #my poems #my writing #ode #original content #original work #theological poetry #existential poetry #sad writer gang

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halothenthehorns · 3 years ago

Text

The Leaky Cauldron

James didn't know where to begin, or what to say. What do you tell your best friend who just found out he would be sent to prison, a literal hell hole, for a crime no one would ever believe he committed. Of all the cruel, unjust things they'd seen in the future so far, this almost rivalled what happened to himself and Lily. He was almost afraid to keep going now, what other horrors would he learn?

Remus was the first to speak up after a very long, drawn out pause, as he said, "Ah, so, what's your deal with Fudge?"

Sirius shook his head from side to side as he sighed, "you're going to think I'm crazy."

"We already think that," Lily stated, giving him her best smile as she continued, "in the best way of course."

Sirius gave an unamused snort, but told them anyways. "Just thinking, I don't like that Fudge was the one to show up to make sure Harry was okay, not days after my supposed escape," here his face twisted off in that same fit of unease he now always felt at the mention of his fate. Quickly shaking that off he pressed on, "me, a supposed Voldemort supporter, according to the general populace. Now, who more than anyone would want to go after Harry?" He finished rhetorically, noting the light the rest of them gained at once.

"You think Fudge thinks you're after Harry?" James said, going a little cross eyed at his own question.

Sirius just shrugged, with his arms still crossed on his chest, glaring moodily down at the book. "Honestly, I'm with Harry, can't think of to many reasons the Minister himself would make an appearance, and be so relieved to find him alive, and be happy about him not going into Hogsmeade."

"I see your point," Remus nodded, "but why is it bothering you so much?" Sirius seemed to be taking this as offensive as if someone had just told him he was going to be a mass murderer.

"Excuse you?" Sirius spluttered. "How would you like it if I turned to you and said, hey, someday soon people are going to think you want Harry dead, let alone being the one to kill him."

Remus flinched back at all of the repressed venom Sirius was showing, but not angry one bit. He nodded in acceptance and apologized.

Sirius backed off at once, but he still looked a mixture of peeved, confused and hurt all the same. James exchanged a look with Lily, then said, "time to play musical chairs you two."

Harry, surprised, got to his feet and followed his mother over to the two seater couch Remus and Sirius had just vacated, placing Sirius in the middle of James and Remus. Harry thought he understood why once James leaned his weight imperceptibly into his best friends. Harry very dearly wanted to offer comfort as well, but recognized he could do no more than give false reassurances like his mother that everything was going to be okay. What Sirius needed now was both Remus keeping him in check, and James support.

It hardly fixed the main problem with him, but they really couldn't think of anything else to say on the matter. No one here could think of much else about how wronged Sirius had been, but there was no way to fix it until they found out exactly what happened. Sirius very dearly wanted the exact opposite of Harry finding these things out, but there wasn't much he could do to stop it. The very idea that Harry would be the one who found out what a horrible murderer he would apparently become made him want to burst into tears, it wasn't fair that he might finally have a chance in this future to get to know the baby he loved so much now, and it would be forever tainted with Harry possibly fearing and hating him.

Yet Harry insisted he must have met Sirius at some point, and he had no ill feelings towards him now, but was he trying to lie and sugar coat it? He didn't ask, unable to decide which answer would be worse.

Looking quite pleased with himself now that he could keep a better eye on Sirius, James took up the book and read.

Harry didn't know quite what to do with all of his free time now. He'd never been allowed before to go wherever whenever.

"That would make any kid your age all kinds of happy," Lily agreed.

He kept his promise to Fudge and kept to Diagon Alley, but it was such an interesting place that wasn't a hard chore. He spent every morning inside the Leaky Cauldron just watching all of the customers interact, witches and wizards comparing their buys of the day, fascinating creatures who blended in, and at one point Harry was quite sure a hag eating raw meat.

"I've sat around there a fair few times just to people watch," Remus agreed, wondering how on earth they could even keep going in such a normal tone after the bombshell that they'd received.

He then reflected it wasn't any odder than the whole situation of reading a book about the future.

Lily was just pleased the whole place wasn't storming Harry again. She supposed he'd blend in better without Hagrid, and said gamekeeper shouting his name.

After that he'd hit the streets, wandering up and down all of the shops and doing more people watching, where the customers were either talking prices, or

James grimaced almost as bad as if he'd had to say mudblood again. If someone had told him at the start of this book Sirius would turn out to be alive, he would have skipped around dancing with joy no matter what the reason, now that he did have his reason he wanted to vomit and scream all over again at the unfairness of it all. He declined against saying this aloud though, worried it would make Sirius feel all the worse, considering how much he flinched at his own name as well as he continued.

talking of Sirius Black, where one mother swore she wouldn't let her children out of the house until he was put away again.

Remus gave a weak, unamused chuckle, picturing some random person actually being afraid of a boy who had once cried all day because Remus had once accidentally turned his hair green, and it had taken a few seconds to correct the colour changing spell and put it right. Sirius had then given an exaggerated hurt expression all day about how Remus had 'shown how he really felt about sharing a house with him.' It was beyond ludicrous that a single person would really think so ill of one of his closest friends.

Harry was now free to do his homework where he chose as well, and favoured doing it in the local ice cream shop where the owner, Florean Fortescue, was very knowledgeable about his essay and was prone to giving Harry free icecream.

"Dang," James grinned, "now how come I never got that treatment."

"Because you would have eaten him out of house and home before the first hour was up," Lily replied at once.

It became a real chore for Harry once he did visit Gringotts not to go out and empty his whole vault.

"Well here's to self-control," Remus smirked.

He found himself wanting nearly everything he came across, including a lifelike model of the galaxy, which would have allowed him to quit his Astronomy class.

"Don't be silly Harry," Lily chided, "you'd still have to take the class, you'd just have an easier time on your homework. Honestly, I wouldn't even be bothered if you'd bought something like that for school."

Then Harry told her the price, and she did a double take before nodding seriously and saying, "okay, good thing you didn't buy it then."

The worst temptation came about in his favourite store, Quality Quidditch Supplies.

James' voice immediately spiked with glee, this could only mean something good. Remus leaned in eagerly as well, and Sirius finally looked almost normal again. What better way to distract him from something so horrible then his favourite sport.

He had to squeeze himself inside the shop to find a new model broom on display.

"Sweet," Sirius cried, almost bouncing in place as his eyes lit up like a child, "a new broom! I thought the new Nimbus sounded fantastic, this must be even better!"

"What are all the models anyways?" Harry asked. Yes he'd had an in depth discussion with Ron about this, but he was enjoying watching the three boys acting like their high-strung selves again, and actually wanted to delay the reading for a bit.

James looked ready to jump in and try to describe the brooms in high detail, when Lily butted in saying, "relevant information James," in a singsong voice.

James froze, and glanced over at her with a very hurt look on his face. "I find this very relevant!"

"Yes well I found the reason Astronomy is important to be very relevant," she snipped back.

James frowned, clearly struggling to remember when this had come up, then he offered, "okay, I get to tell Harry about this, then you can tell him about the importance of tracking stars."

Lily grinned and agreed, then James quickly launched into his explanation first. After a lively discussion of nearly every make and model, Lily almost regretted giving in to James, she found it so boring at one point she slipped out of the room to go in and check on baby Harry. James seemed to be winding down by the time she had reentered.

Once he was done, Sirius said in a suffering voice, "alright, so why are we forced to take Astronomy for five years?"

Lily replied with a bit of an impish smirk, "I would like to remind you all, in the very first chapter that 'odd' watch it mentioned Dumbledore owned. All of you knew how to read and understand that because you learned Astronomy."

"So we can read a fancy watch," James dismissed, "we do own analogue watches. We only use those more for traditional reasons now. Got anything else?"

"It's also very important in potion making," Lily continued as if James hadn't spoken. "It doesn't do a Potioner any good to have to sit around and take hours to figure out the position of the planets, which are important in many advanced potions. You need to be able to know and understand this in a very particular frame of time, so if you want a career in Potions you must keep up with Astronomy."

Harry nodded, very curious about this indeed, but it was clear the other three boys were getting rather bored with this conversation. Lily considered going on anyways, just for a bit of payback at James boring her stupid with his broom talk, but lamented that you really couldn't force knowledge, so she agreed to allow the reading to continue.

The shop owner was explaining to the crowd that this model was going to be the broom of choice for the Irish International team, and they were favoured to win the World Cup.

"Really?" Remus butted in eagerly. "They've gone up in the rankings."

"Just tell me what it is already," Sirius demanded, nearly bouncing in place in anticipation.

Harry finally found a break in the crowd enough to read the title on a little plaque, The Firebolt.

"It's a new model all together," James breathed, nearly drooling as he could only picture it, not having a previous model to go off of.

"Well read the sign already," Sirius all but begged, looking near to snatching the book away just to read it himself.

There was a sign underneath detailing every inch of the broom's top of the line standards.

The boys spent just as long interrogating Harry on every detail he remembered of this broom, and Lily simply sat back and watched indulgently for a few minutes before cutting in again and trying to convince them to move on. James huffed and grumbled for a bit, but finally accepted.

The price wasn't even listed though, and Harry reflected it would do him no good to empty his school vault for a new broom when he still had a perfectly good one on him.

Lily beamed with pride as she said, "I'm so proud of you. I can't imagine many boys your age, or older," she cut herself off to give an obvious look at the other three boys, "would take the time to consider that."

Harry blushed a bit at the praise, thanking his Mum. After a pause, the boys finally admitted they were happy Harry didn't buy the broom either, thinking in rational sense of course. It didn't stop them from wanting it any less either.

This didn't stop Harry from coming back every day just to look at it though.

Sirius nodded like this made absolutely perfect sense to him, making Harry laugh anew.

He did have some things he was required to buy though, like new school robes which were getting several inches too short.

"How come they don't have some kind of place in school to fix that," Harry asked, this having bothered him several times towards the end of the school year. "Honestly, how come they don't have any way to fix your clothes, I've ripped the hem of my trousers several times and just had to ignore it till summer." He was also thinking of a few other times, like the basilisk biting his arm and leaving a sizable gap in that sleeve as well for the last few weeks of school.

Sirius looked perfectly back to normal after the nice long Quidditch distraction and explained for Harry, "the house-elves have been known to take care of the worst of them, like for instance the time Peter got a hole ripped on his backside, long story," he added on when Harry looked about asking for details. "They also put some kind of charm, I think, on them when they go in the wash so that they don't need them every bloody time you have to deal with Herbology. Dirt repelling charms, and maybe they strengthen the material or something, I've never stopped to ask to be honest."*

Harry reflected that he'd never really thought about it, as the Gryffindor boys had a laundry chute that just seemed to magically clean their clothes and shoot them back out perfectly folded, but it did make sense.

There were also his new textbooks for both his old classes, and his new ones Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination.

"Well, at least you did get your stuff," James muttered, mostly to himself as he remembered worrying about this, and trying to push away the impending feeling that they would just have to rehash that same conversation at the beginning of next book since Harry would still have to go back there! He grit his teeth for a moment before forcing himself to go on in that same light tone as before, not willing to let his good mood be spoiled again so soon.

Harry did get a surprise though, when he went to the bookshop and saw a window display of the Monster Book of Monsters.

"Oh," they brightened in understanding at Hagrid sending Harry that book.

Remus stated, "guess that makes sense then, Hagrid would have sent you a textbook for one of your new classes."

"That's not what Kettleburn set us though," Sirius pointed out, "so why the change?"

"You don't think there's a new teacher?" Lily asked in concern, never having taken the class herself, but curious all the same.

"Wouldn't surprise me," James shrugged, "he would be how old now? With two limbs missing? In fact, you remember Hagrid's letter, he was going to tell Harry something, like a surprise? Guess this might have been it. Of course Hagrid would get chummy with a new Care of Magical Creatures teacher."

"Great, so we're going to have to deal with three new teachers this year," Sirius rolled his eyes, "I can only hope they're at least competent. Harry hasn't exactly had a good track record so far."

"You can say that again," Harry agreed, wondering why this year in particular made him feel like correcting Sirius on this. Had he finally gotten a decent teacher, at least for DADA?

They weren't happy about it though, as they were locked in a giant cage tearing each other's pages out.

Sirius released a surprised snort of laughter, picturing books fighting having never come to mind.

Harry looked at his book list for the first time and saw the book listed as the one he'd need for Care of Magical Creatures, and couldn't help almost sagging in relief. He'd been having horrible ideas about Hagrid perhaps wanting help with a new animal.

"Oh don't," Lily shuddered in true terror, "I don't want to have to deal with anymore of Hagrid's pets."

"Well I seemed to be wrong," Harry soothed.

Harry went inside, and the moment the store owner laid eyes on him, he demanded to know if Harry was from Hogwarts, and when he said he was, the man pushed Harry out of the way,

"Well that was rude," Remus frowned.

"What's his problem," Sirius agreed huffily.

going for a thick set of gloves and making his way towards the cage of biting books.

"What a jerk," James agreed with a frown. "Harry might not have needed that book even if he did already have it. Care of Magical creatures isn't mandatory for Hogwarts."

Harry stopped him though, telling that he already had that book. The man couldn't have looked any more relieved if he wanted to, saying he'd already had to deal with five paper cuts this morning.

Lily winced in sympathy, but didn't bother to say anything out loud this time. He really had been presumptuous in his actions.

From inside the cage came another tearing sound, coming from two of the books having pinned down a third and tearing its back off.

"Hope you'd at least get a discount on that book," Sirius laughed.

The owner shoved a cane inside and forced them all apart, complaining of what a nightmare they were to have around. It was worse than the time he'd bought a shipment of Invisibility books, and never found a single one of them.

"Ah," Lily said in confusion, "I don't get it, they didn't use the counterspell to make the books visible or...?"

"Don't know," Harry shrugged, "didn't ask for details."

Harry showed him the list of books he did need though, one of which was Unfogging the Future. He led Harry over to the Divination section of the store, and Harry read the back of the book which detailed what he would learn, including palmistry and bird entrails.

"Bird entrails?" James repeated in disgust.

"Well it sounds like an interesting class at least," Remus chuckled.

Harry's attention was off guard though, when he spotted another book labelled Death Omens. The owner looked where Harry was, and told Harry that wasn't a good book to be reading, he'd start being paranoid about death being everywhere.

"Should he really be telling someone not to buy a book from him?" Sirius laughed.

"Well I appreciate it," Lily shrugged, noting Harry seemed to have a pessimistic side enough as is, he didn't need that extra help.

Harry was still watching though, as the front cover was of a very large black dog,

"I'm not that big," Sirius scoffed, growing uneasy all over again at any kind of mention of him, even his animal.

Harry gave him a pitying look, declining to mention that his own imagination might have made that black dog in the alley way bigger than it might have really been.

remarkably close to the one he'd seen that night in the alley. The shop owner really did distract him by escorting Harry around to gather the rest of his books, but he was distracted as he left the shop and accidentally smacked into a few people on his way back to the Leaky Cauldron.

Now all four of them were frowning, each taking a worried glance at Harry. He was still frowning at Sirius, a perturbed look on his face. Finally Sirius couldn't take it anymore and said, "you're starting to scare me there Harry, what's on your mind."

Harry jolted slightly, Sirius didn't usually refer to him by his actual name, but he gave him a benign smile as he admitted, "guess I just didn't realize your animagus form was a death omen, and you know, not knowing then..."

Remus released a surprised snort of laughter, admitting, "yeah, it honestly did surprise us a bit too when he first achieved his transformation, Peter's a bit superstitious and actually called him a Grim."

James gave a surprised laugh himself, nodding and saying, "we were actually going to use that as his nickname, we kicked around a few things before we settled on what we've got."

"I can see how it would freak you out a bit," Lily nodded in agreement.

He dumped all of his stuff to the side and sat down heavily on his bed, thinking about how he'd seen that dog not moments before his head had nearly been crushed under the wheels of a bus. Aloud, he told himself it hadn't been a death omen,

Sirius winced, and began ducking into himself, wanting to apologize for clearly frightening Harry so much, since by this point they really were convinced that must have been Sirius, the coincidence was just too high. Before he could let himself feel too much pity though, James absently gave him a nudge with his elbow, and Remus flicked his ear. Sirius was instantly distracted from his thoughts and instead was playfully grumbling about how his friends abused him.

saying he was just overthinking about that stray dog he'd seen.

"Now that I'll disagree with," James said lightly, still keeping a protective eye over Sirius to make sure he wasn't going to sink back into that self-pity again.

Harry nodded in understanding, trying to catch Sirius' eye to give him a confident smile, and succeeding after a moment; receiving one back almost instantly.

Looking into the mirror, he began to try and flatten his hair with nerves.

"Now there's a lost cause," Lily said absently.

The mirror spoke back that Harry was fighting a losing battle with that one.

They all laughed weakly then, but Sirius still wasn't in much of a mood to make the joke Lily had just mimicked a mirror of all things.

As the holiday continued to drag closer to the end, Harry began spotting some of his school friends, like the other Gryffindor boys Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas who stopped to have a chat with him. He also saw Neville Longbottom, but swerved to avoid him,

"Why?" Remus asked. "I thought you liked Neville?"

"Wait for it," Harry told him simply.

as he was currently being told off by his haughty looking grandmother.

"Yeah, no one wants their friend around when they're getting told off," Sirius agreed.

Harry dearly hoped she never found out he'd tried to use Neville's name while on the run.

James released a surprised burst of laughter, personally he would have been flattered, but he could see the other side to that coin.

He woke up on the last day before school started, thinking he had just missed Ron and Hermione in the crowd and he'd see them tomorrow on the train.

"That is a little weird," Lily agreed, coking her head to the side slightly, "they said they were going to be there."

"Haven't you been sending them mail with Hedwig?" Remus asked. "Didn't they know they could find you at the Leaky Cauldron."

Harry shook his head no and said, "I didn't send Hedwig anymore that summer, it was to close to the end of the holidays, and I didn't know if she'd be back in time with an answer before I had to go back to school."

The others disagreed, wanting to point out that Hedwig would have known to go to Hogwarts even if that were the case, but didn't argue the point.

He got up to go and have one last look at the Firebolt,

James read that with nothing but fondness colouring his tone, knowing full well that was something he would have done too.

and was traveling that way when he heard his name being called from behind. He turned and found his two best friends waving over at him.

"Finally," Remus grinned.

"I have missed hearing about them," James agreed affectionately.

Ron was saying how happy he was to find Harry, that they must have just missed him at the Leaky Cauldron,

"Then how did they know you were staying there?" Lily asked.

Harry shrugged and said, "I'm sure I ask him, since I was just wondering the same thing."

and they'd already gone around and got their own shopping done. Harry said he'd already done his as well, then asked how they knew where he was staying. Ron simply put that his Dad knew.

"Makes sense," Sirius shrugged, "he knew about you last summer too, you seem pretty popular in his department."

"I get the feeling everyone inside the Ministry always knows about me," Harry replied, not exactly happy about it.

This didn't surprise Harry, as Arthur Weasley worked for the Ministry and would have knowledge of his Aunt's mishap. Hermione brought up this very subject, asking if Harry had really blown up his aunt in a serious voice.

"Oh yeah, she's never heard me speak, how'd she do an impression of me?" Sirius demanded.

James sniffed, choosing to ignore Sirius on that one, as he told Harry, "Go on, tell her the reason you did, and that stern voice will turn to outrage in a second."

Harry just shrugged without a response, having a good idea he didn't actually do that.

Ron burst into laughter at once at the reminder while Harry lamely explained away he'd just lost control.

The four of them frowned at Harry sharply, not at all pleased this seemed to be the only explanation he was going to give his friends, but Harry was resolutely ignoring all eyes, and they admitted there was no sense badgering him about it now.

Hermione told him off, saying it wasn't supposed to be funny as Harry could have gotten into real trouble for that. Harry agreed he was surprised he didn't, and asked Ron if his Dad had any idea why Fudge hadn't?

Now because of Sirius, they wondered if maybe they had taken too light of the situation before, but none of them said it out loud. Sirius was still looking all kinds of moody any time this subject came up, so James refused to linger on it too long.

Ron just shrugged it off, saying it was because it was the Harry Potter. If he'd pulled something like that, the Ministry would've have his head, but then again they'd have to dig him back up as his Mum would've murdered him.

"I like to think Ron wouldn't be put in that situation any more then Harry, or at least his Mum would have understood," Lily said, mostly to herself it seemed as the boys seemed to find that comment more amusing than anything.

Then Ron told Harry that the lot of the Weasleys, and Hermione, were going to be staying at the Leaky Cauldron that night with Harry, so he could go to the train with them tomorrow.

"Excellent," Harry beamed, more than pleased to hear about this, he'd missed his friends terribly over that summer.

Harry said this was excellent.

Then they all laughed a bit more as Harry blushed slightly at mimicking himself.

Ron changed the subject then by pulling out a long thin box,

"His new wand," Remus grinned.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," James snorted as he read.

showcasing his new wand. He also laughed back about when they'd told that shop owner they'd wanted two of the Monster Book of Monsters, and how the man had nearly cried.

"Poor guy," Lily said in sympathy, wondering why the store hadn't simply found a better method of shutting those books closed with a belt like Harry, and simply selling them that way.

Harry then asked Hermione what all she'd gotten, as she had three bags ripping at the seams with all of her books. Hermione proceeded to list every extra subject Hogwarts had to offer, including Muggle Studies.

"How many classes is she taking?" Sirius asked faintly.

"Why's she taking Muggle Studies?" Remus demanded. "She's a muggle-born?"

"How can she even take all of those classes?" James frowned. "Some of them run at the same time."

Harry didn't have an answer for any of this, but he asked something he'd been wondering for a while, "which classes did you guys take?"

"Arithmancy," James and Lily said at once.

"I also took Muggle Studies," James added on with a sheepish expression, "I ah, just never paid much attention when, well, Lily didn't seem to think it very impressive when I started talking about electricity, I lost interest by the end of the year and stopped paying it much mind. Dropped it after fifth."

Lily snorted at remembering all that, he was playing up even remembering that much she was sure, it wouldn't surprise her if he'd paid Sirius to do his homework for him when he realized she hadn't been impressed one bit by this. "I took Study of Ancient Runes instead," she told her son aloud.

"We both took Care of Magical Creatures," Remus said, gesturing towards himself and Sirius, "but I took Arithmancy too."

"Muggle Studies as my second option," Sirius responded, stretching out slightly as he forced himself to relax again at this rather normal conversation, might as well enjoy it while it lasted. "Oh and Peter took Study of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy with James," he added on thoughtfully, thinking Harry would like to know more about their other friend even if he hadn't met him yet.

Harry nodded happily, enjoying the fact he didn't seem to be getting that settling feeling that normally came with relearning things. This meant he'd never learned this about his family before, and he always enjoyed that. These glowing feelings managed to shove out some nasty little pang he suddenly felt at hearing Peter's name. That hadn't come up before this book, why this year in particular would he get a surgence for that name?

Ron demanded to know why his friend was taking Muggle Studies,

Sirius opened his mouth, but Remus quickly said, "yes Sirius, I mimicked Ron, let it go."

Sirius just smirked at him, enjoying the moment anyways.

as she was a Muggle-born. Hermione said that she wanted to see wizards point of view on them, it would be all sorts of interesting.

"Props for that," Lily agreed, never having thought of that point of view before.

"Still wouldn't take the extra class," Remus said in disbelief, thinking this poor girl was going to overwork herself in the first week.

Harry asked her if she'd planned on any time for eating or sleeping, but Hermione ignored them both.

"That's a legitimate question," James said, his own amusement still lingering. He was picturing her come midterms and going to at least two professors to drop one of her extra classes just for a breath of fresh air, no one could keep up with that much!

Instead saying that she had some leftover money and wanted to buy herself a birthday present, and Ron suggested a book. Hermione politely declined,

Sirius snapped his fingers and said, "darn, guess she already realizes she's not going to have much time for free reading this term."

and said that what she did want was an owl.

"Did she talk to her parents about that before though?" Lily asked in concern. "I asked my parents for an owl for years, but they never gave in to that one."

"I think a girl like Hermione, she most likely did," Remus pacified.

Saying that as Harry had Hedwig and Ron had Errol, but Ron corrected that was a family owl, not his.

"And it's kind of recommended they get a new owl to," Sirius agreed, wincing in sympathy for the old bird.

What he did have was Scabbers, his old rat, who was looking quite sickly himself.

"How old is he?" James asked in concern.

"Don't know," Harry shrugged, "Ron's never said specifically."

"Most only live for about five years I think," Lily said, frowning as she thought about it. "Ron said Scabbers used to be Percy's, and that was almost three years ago at this point. Assuming Percy got him very young, he'd still be getting on."

'Poor Ron' they all thought this time, not wanting the poor kid to have to go through the trauma of losing a pet.

Harry led the way to the local Magical Animal shop where both of his friends could attend to their needs, and they walked inside to find a large assortment of every fascinating animal.

"That sounds like all kinds of fun," Lily said in amusement.

"It's one of my favourite shops," Remus agreed.

"Surprised you didn't interrupt me every animal to say what it actually was," James told him.

"I'm not that bad," Remus scoffed, unwilling to admit he'd been mentally doing that anyways, though his friends knew better and exchanged superior smirks like they had when he'd given them an hour long chat about those color changing snails known as streelers.

Ron went up to the counter first while Hermione began browsing the owls, which came in every colour and breed. Ron explained that Scabbers had been acting rather lethargic of late, while Harry was thinking about how Scabbers had once belonged to Ron's older brother Percy, and next to the cage of younger rats, Scabbers looked particularly old.

"Bet he's still better than those," Sirius sniffed, feeling a particular affection for Scabbers, like he would for any rat that reminded him of Peter, and the description was a pretty good fit, not to mention the time he'd bit Goyle. That could never be sullied.

The woman at the counter picked up the rat by his tail, asking how old exactly he was, and Ron didn't know the actual age, just that he'd been around for a while. Scabbers was inspected from his torn ear to one of his missing toes, and noted that most of this species wouldn't live longer than three years.

"Well she's just a lovely conversation," Lily frowned severely, that was hardly something you told a child asking for help with his pet.

"And some can live longer," Remus agreed a little hotly, still feeling bad for Ron and wanting to defend his pet, even if he wasn't there right now.

She offered Ron to buy a replacement, pointing at the cage where the black furred rats were playing an odd game jumping over each other's tails. Ron just muttered that they were showing off.

James chuckled, he'd actually been fixing to say something similar before he read Ron's response.

The woman switched tactics and instead offered Ron some medicine for Scabbers, calling it Rat Tonic. Ron agreed he'd buy that, beginning to ask for the price, when he screamed in pain.

Lily jumped, James had yelled that pretty loud, then scowled at him when she realized he was still reading, "what was that for?"

"Ron said it," he shrugged, giving her a cheeky grin before reading curiously.

Harry was startled to see something very large and dark orange landing on Ron's head, then leaping onto the counter after Scabbers.

"A cat I presume," Remus said mildly, arching a brow in surprise, "though props to it for getting out of its cage."

Sirius popped him lightly, saying, "you really want that thing to eat Scabbers in front of Ron?"

Remus just rolled his eyes as James continued.

The woman screamed for Crookshanks to stop, but Scabbers wasn't waiting around, wriggling out of her hand and bolting from the shop. Harry and Ron tore after him, catching up to him curled up underneath a trashcan. Ron demanded to know what had attacked him, and Harry explained it was either a very large cat, or a very small tiger.

Which made everyone in the room laugh at Harry's attempt at humour.

They made their way back to the shop for Hermione who should have gotten her owl by now, only to find her walking out of the shop with the same cat in her arms.

"Really?" Lily demanded. "She bought the cat that attacked Ron's pet?"

"I'm trying to decide if that's her subtle way of saying Ron annoys her," Sirius smirked.

"Hermione's hardly subtle about anything," Remus snorted.

"I'm kind of with Lily," James frowned in disapproval, "it was almost rude of her to buy something that went out of its way to eat Scabbers like that."

Harry wasn't paying much attention to any of them, but was instead fighting the impulse to rub at his temple again. He'd never thought too much about Scabbers other than as Ron's pet, and he had no real feelings towards Hermione buying whatever cat she wanted, but there was something here he wasn't really seeing. Something important he really should remember about these two pets, James hadn't seemed to notice his son's silence as he continued.

Ron was outraged she'd bought the cat that had tried to eat his rat, and Hermione ignored him by stating that he was a beautiful creature. Harry didn't really agree, its fur was very thick and poofy, its legs a too short for its long body, and it had a squashed face like he'd run face first into a wall.

Both Sirius and Remus released surprised snorts of laughter at that lovely description.

Hermione was cooing to her cat that she hadn't really meant to hurt Ron, but Ron was still arguing that Scabbers didn't need the hassle of a cat around, he needed his peace. Hermione was frowning at him now as she handed over Ron's Rat Tonic, telling how Crookshanks had been in that store for ages as no one had wanted to buy him.

"That's a real mystery," Sirius rolled his eyes.

Lily huffed and gave him the stank eye. Despite her misgivings about Hermione buying that particular cat at that time, she had nothing against the actual animal. It was in its nature after all, and Sirius mocking it just annoyed her.

They went back to the Leaky Cauldron, Ron and Hermione arguing the whole way, Harry phasing it out. When they got inside, he greeted Mr. Weasley at the bar, looking at the front paper where Sirius Black was still on display.

James frowned and grit his teeth for a moment, annoyed at once all the good mood seeping right out of the room at this near constant reminder. He wanted more than anything right now to find out what had really happened to his best friend, but the repeating commentary on him was grinding his gears.

Harry asked if there was any new news on him, but Mr. Weasley said that even though they'd pulled some people off their normal jobs to find him, they'd got nothing yet.

Instead of allowing his mood to sink back down, Sirius said in a forced happy voice, "I think I should get some credit for that at least."

Remus gave him a pointed look that said quite clearly he still didn't find him making light of this situation any kind of funny, but no one told him off for it this time. It was better than him being depressed anyways.

Ron asked if whoever caught him would get a reward,

Sirius opened, then quickly closed his mouth. He had been fixing to ask how much his head was worth, but decided he really didn't want to know the answer to that.

but Mr. Weasley snapped at his son not to go getting any ideas, and Harry noticed he looked a lot more tense than usual.

James voice spiked a bit in confusion upon reading that. What did this have to do with the Weasley's really? Why would it put extra strain on Arthur, or was it something else altogether? Most likely it was the second.

Reminding them that it would most likely be the Azkaban guards who would catch up with him,

Sirius shuddered so hard at those words, he nearly shook the whole couch with him. Those guards were one of the reasons he felt like fainting at the mere thought of where he was fixing to spend the next twelve years of his life in a very short amount of time. He'd been around a Dementor once in his life, and the thought of forcibly being stuck in their presence for any prolonged time made him want to run for the hills without looking back.

James really couldn't take it this time, and wrapped an arm around his friends shoulder for a brief moment until Sirius did stop his shaking again. He waited until Sirius offered a weak, unreal smile, but at least he attempted it, giving James enough confidence to keep reading and pray for a change of subject.

Remus was trying to swallow back bile at seeing his usually energized friend reduced to this state, while Harry dearly wanted to ask who on earth these guards were if they elicited such strong reactions from people he could hardly imagine being afraid of anything. First Hagrid, now Sirius, what on earth happened in this Azkaban? He still didn't ask though, not wanting to be the one to linger on this.

The rest of the Weasley's arrived then, Ginny coming in last and going red in the face upon seeing Harry. She'd always had a bit of a crush on him, and his saving her life last year most likely hadn't changed that.

"Just what I wanted to be reminded of right now," Sirius whispered, thinking about that horrid Chamber the least helpful thing to get his mind off of death and regrets.

Percy spotted Harry as well and marched forward, offering his hand to Harry and welcoming him in the most formal way possible.

James forced as much amusement as he could into this small interaction, perhaps speaking a little louder than was necessary to make sure Sirius got his fill of what he was sure was about to be an amusing moment. Anything with the twins and Percy in the same room almost always meant a laugh.

Fred couldn't let that slide, shoving Percy out of the way and mimicking his brother's actions as pompously as possible,

Then James grinned, looking all too smug at being right, and just as pleased to see a genuine smile come back to his friends face at these twin's antics.

George quickly copying him as well. Percy scowled at both of them.

The boys were outright laughing by this point, and Lily couldn't help but smirk along.

Molly Weasley told them to knock it off, but Fred wasn't done yet, pouncing on his mother's hand and going on about seeing her as well.

Lily shook her head affectionately while this only doubled the boy's amusement.

She really did get them to stop this time, before turning on Harry and giving him a warm welcome before boasting that Percy had made Head Boy, the second of her sons to have done so. Fred muttered he was going to be the last as well.

"Now that's not really fair to Ron," Lily frowned at him.

"I agree," James nodded. He enjoyed being Head Boy in his time, but Percy was being the wrong kind as far as he was concerned. In fact he'd rather enjoy it if Ron got that opportunity, he'd very much noticed the boy's lack of confidence in himself and some responsibility like this might just help him.

Mrs. Weasley wasn't pleased at the slight, pointing out neither of the twins had been made prefects.

"That might be a little awkward," Remus noted, "only one of the twins getting that."

Sirius nodded, agreeing, "yeah, I'd almost feel bad for them."

George scoffed he'd be mad to want such a thing, it would take all the fun out of their life.

"I resemble that comment," Remus smirked.

"I think you meant resent," Lily corrected him, even knowing he had used the wrong word on purpose.

"That to," he laughed.

Ginny laughed at her brothers, and Mrs. Weasley noticed that to, so she snapped at the twins to set a better example for their sister.

While no one else in the room took much notice of this, Harry suddenly looked puzzled. He had a rather distinct feeling Ginny wasn't nearly the sweetheart her mother wanted her to be.

Percy said she had much better brothers to look to for an example, before exiting up the stairs. George confided in Harry they'd tried to lock that brother away in a sarcophagus in Egypt, but their Mum had caught them.

"Rats," Sirius huffed, snapping his fingers in agitation.

Lily gave him the stank eye, even though she knew he didn't mean it anymore then George had.

They all had dinner together that night, and Fred was asking his Dad about how all of them were getting to the train tomorrow?

"I'm getting hungry," Sirius said at once, his mouth watering at the thought of dessert.

"You're always hungry," James reminded him.

Lily ignored the pair, it was still a bit too early for lunch, so instead said, "that's a good question though, since they don't have the Anglia anymore."

Mr. Weasley explained that his job was loaning him a couple of cars,

"Well that was nice," Remus said, rather puzzled.

"Do the Ministry normally do this?" Harry asked at once, noting how confused the others seemed.

"They're not known to," James shrugged, "it's not their business to make sure every one of their workers gets around, but I suppose Arthur might have been able to make an exception for you," he finished, giving Harry an obvious wink. He didn't really find it funny, the reminder of his son's fame was only a thought away from how he'd gained it, but it made sense.

Harry nodded in understanding all the same.

Percy asked why, and George quickly cut in by saying it was all thanks to Percy. They were even going to put flags on the car for him, saying HB, while Fred finished up the joke by stating that it stood for Humongous Bighead.

Which gained a laugh from all present readers.

Everyone except Percy and Mrs. Weasley snorted into their pudding.

"I like the fact that means Arthur laughed as well," Remus grinned.

"Those twins had to get their sense of humour from somewhere," Sirius smirked.

Percy ignored them and repeated his question.

"That boy needs to lighten up," Lily rolled her eyes.

Mr. Weasley did explain that he'd managed to convince the Ministry to do him a favour, but he was going red just like Ron did when he was being pressured.

"Good to note an obvious Weasley tell," James grinned, feeling rather smug he must have guessed right from this.

Mrs. Weasley changed subject to asking if they were all packed, and Percy told his mother how Ron wasn't, he'd put all of his books all over his bed.

"That boy is annoying," Sirius rolled his eyes, "what brother points that out to his parents about his sibling?"

Mrs. Weasley told Ron off for this at once, while Ron gave Percy a dirty look.

"That was a nice reaction," Remus rolled his eyes, thinking of a couple of worse things Ron could have done in retaliation.

When dinner was done, Harry heard a ruckus coming from Percy and Ron's shared room, and he went over to find them both arguing. Percy's Head Boy badge was missing, along with Ron's Rat Tonic, and they were both convinced the other had taken it. Harry said he'd last seen Ron's Tonic at the bar downstairs, but Percy wouldn't let Ron leave until his badge had been found.

"What's Percy's right to tell him that?" Lily demanded hotly. "It's his badge, not Ron's. Ron's not the type to take it for fun."

Harry offered to get Ron's stuff, going back onto the stairs, but coming quickly to a stop when he heard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arguing.

"Ouch," James winced in sympathy, wondering if this is why Arthur had looked so upset earlier. Were he and Molly having a fight?

Harry would have normally kept walking, not wanting to be caught listening in on this, when he froze at hearing his own name,

That sparked an interest in all of them, wondering how the couple could be arguing about Harry of all people.

so he inched closer to the door.

No one could blame Harry for that one bit, it was the normal reaction after all.

Arthur was saying that he wanted to tell Harry something, that he had every right to know.

"Know what?" Remus asked with unease, not liking the look of this already.

James didn't bother with a response, hoping the book would explain more properly

He'd been arguing with Fudge about this, who'd been insisting on keeping Harry in the dark. Molly shot back that it would horrify him if he knew.

This short little bit already had Lily worrying at her lip all over again, and the boys weren't looking any better. What worse thing could be going on right now?!

Arthur pointed out though it would be for his own good, he and Ron had already been known to end up in the Forbidden Forest twice,

"Technically," Harry butted in, shifting his weight in agitation due to the mood circling around, "I've been in twice, Ron's only been in once."

"So Arthur was generalizing," Sirius huffed, his eyes narrowing, "that doesn't explain what they're so bothered about."

Harry winced at the sharp tone he used, though it clearly wasn't directed at him specifically.

but Harry couldn't do that kind of stuff this year. It was a miracle he'd lived the night he'd run away from home. If the Knight Bus hadn't come and got him, he probably wouldn't have been found at all.

James groaned and looked ready to toss the book away in anger. Why did he keep getting all the chapters that felt like mentioning how his son could die?

Sirius looked the opposite, ready to faint all over again as he vividly remembered how upset Fudge had seemed that night as well. He hardly wanted confirmation that his theory was right, but it seemed he was about to get it anyways.

Molly was insisting that hadn't happened though, so there was no point in telling him, but Arthur argued back that they say Sirius Black is out of his mind!

James' voice spiked all over again, having several testy retorts on his lips for that, but quickly bit them off. It's not like he could blame the Weasleys for thinking this, they didn't know any more about Sirius then Stan had. It just boiled his blood to know anyone thought that way of someone he considered a brother.

Sirius winced and pressed himself back into his seat cushions, wondering just how accurate that accusation was? Azkaban was known to drive people to death if they were there long enough, and his sentence more than met that time.

Remus was getting paler the longer this went on, clenching and unclenching himself up as he, like James, wanted very much to snap at someone for implying this about his friend.

He hadn't met the man to argue the point, but it didn't change the fact that he'd been out for weeks and no one had any leads on him. They only knew one thing, what he wanted.

"Is that right," Lily hissed, her eyes narrowing dangerously, "he's told you this, or is it more guess work and slandering?"

Molly was still insisting it wouldn't matter, Harry would be in no safer place once he was at school, but Arthur argued back that if Black could break out of Azkaban, it would be no problem for him to break into Hogwarts.

Sirius opened, then closed his mouth again. How he had broken out of Azkaban, he had not the slightest clue. The thought had never even occurred to him to figure out how, and he wasn't keen on sitting around pondering it now. However, he did have the fullest confidence that if any student wanted to sneak in and out of that school, he was more than qualified. Everyone here knew this though, and he just couldn't muster up the energy in that moment to say it with as much bragging rights as he normally would have.

Molly tried to pacify that they weren't positive Black was after Harry,

Sirius winced at that nightmare of a sentence all over again, never mind that he himself had suggested it earlier. It hardly made him feel better he was obviously right this time.

James was resolutely ignoring him, wanting to laugh at how stupid that sentence was, and hoping for a clue what his friend really would be doing.

but there was a thunk inside, and Harry had the suspicion Mr. Weasley had smacked his hand onto the table in frustration before explaining that Fudge had told him a secret. He'd been to see Black the night before he'd escaped, and the guards had spoken of Black's nonstop muttering in his sleep, 'he's at Hogwarts.'

Remus wrinkled up his nose in disgust, having to force himself to cut off a mocking laugh at this. Personally, if Sirius really was 'after' Harry, then to him it wasn't even that surprising. Sirius' first thought would be to go to his Godson, make absolutely sure he was okay. It wouldn't even surprise him to learn if Sirius did end up spending the rest of his time hiding around and dogging Harry, waiting for a chance to talk to him and try to explain himself.

Black was crazy,

"Not used to hearing you refer to me by my last name," Sirius said quickly, desperately casting his mind around to distract himself from this depressing topic, even for the shortest amount of time. "It's really weird. I keep thinking you're talking about my Dad or something."

"Half wish I was," James grumbled, turning the page so viciously he almost ripped it out.

and he wanted Harry dead.

James gagged slightly again, but refused to let himself be cut off this time.

Arthur was convinced in fact that Black was under the delusion if he killed Harry, You- Know-Who would return.

Lily's brows shot into her hairline at that, what an odd thing for anyone to think.

Black had lost everything the night You-Know-Who had vanished, and he's spent these past years thinking of nothing but that.

"Well he's got that part right at least," Sirius whispered to himself, casting an almost longing look around this once peaceful scene, and one more towards the ceiling where the baby was. Certainly not in the way Arthur had meant it, but he was more than sure a piece of him died that night this family was torn away from him.

Molly finally gave in, saying that if Arthur felt he had to tell Harry this, then do it. Then she added on that she was still positive Dumbledore wouldn't let anything happen to Harry, adding on he did know of this secret, yes? Arthur agreed that he had been informed, as they'd had to ask him if he'd allow the Azkaban guards to be on the school grounds that year.

Sirius felt another terrible spasm rock him. If he was going to be hanging around Harry this year to try and talk to him, he'd probably be deterred by that!

"You're joking," Remus groaned, going a little green there for a moment.

"Sadly not," James almost growled, finding this to be a horrible idea the longer he thought about it.

"Surely he said no," Lily gasped, "letting those, things, around children!"

Harry couldn't help it anymore, this was such a vivid reaction from them he finally burst out, "who are these guards?"

The four of them exchanged uneasy looks, no one wanting to be the one to answer him.

Finally Remus swallowed back the bile in this throat to answer him. The whole time he talked, Harry was nodding and seemed to be settling down at the information like he always did, but there was something new going on this time. He seemed to be watching Remus with a steady kind of look.

Harry was trying his hardest to simply listen to the awful explanation, but he was having trouble fighting down a sense a Deja vu, like Remus had told him this before. That was ridiculous though, right?

Once he was done, James was quick to read on, wanting more than anything to stop talking about all of this.

Dumbledore had agreed to the idea, though he wasn't happy.

Lily huffed and grumbled something under her breath, that they all heard and agreed anyways.

Molly was shocked, asking why wouldn't he be happy if they caught Black?

James paled to the colour Sirius currently was, knowing he'd rather die than let his best friend be dragged back into living with those things.

Arthur pointed out how much Dumbledore hated dealing with the guards, and while Arthur would normally agree with him, when dealing with people like Black, it was a necessary evil.

Both James and Remus' voice spiked as they started to protest that sentence, but Sirius was the one to cut them off, only being able to speak just loud enough to catch their attention. He was still having some problems breathing properly to speak to loudly as he said, "thanks guys, really I mean it. Come on though, you can't start yelling about this every time it comes up."

"You bet your arse I can," James snapped right back.

Sirius rolled his eyes indulgently, then took a moment to smile over at Harry. He looked just as frustrated as anyone else, but Sirius now knew how the other boy was feeling about people yelling at something he'd rather just skip. It wasn't the same thing, not by a long shot, since Sirius found it more than relevant that they should know what happened at the Dursleys Harry wasn't talking about, but at least he could sympathize the feeling now.

The conversation ended there, and Harry scrambled farther down the stairs as the parents went to go and check on their kids. Further down the stairs, Harry found Fred and George snickering in the shadows, as they'd been the one to steal Percy's badge and had been making improvements on it, as it now read Bighead Boy.

Sirius forced a laugh, but he was the only one who attempted.

Harry forced himself to laugh, went and found Ron's Rat Tonic and gave it back to him, before going back to his own room, his mind stuck on one thing. Sirius Black was after him.

James scoffed deep in his throat, while Sirius sunk all the lower, unable to find anger this time. He'd thought it was bad before, but now he not only found out his horrible little theory was right, but Harry was still learning about him like this! It made him want to burst into tears and break someone's ribcage all at the same time.

This time Remus slung his arm across his friend's shoulder, and leaned in to whisper something in his ear. It didn't make him laugh like normal, but it brought up a weak smile none the less, erasing that look however temporarily.

It did explain things, like why Fudge had been so relieved to find Harry alive he'd let him slide out of punishment, and why the Ministry was sending cars for the Weasley's, all the better way to keep an eye on Harry until he was safely on the Hogwarts Express.

James had to cut himself off every few minutes to mutter what nonsense this was, but he got through most of it intelligibly.

As he reflected on all of that though, he realized he wasn't actually scared.

That finally released a bark like laugh from Sirius. It was far more subdued than normal, but he turned gleaming eyes on Harry anyways.

Harry was quick to return it with a smile and say, "probably because I knew deep down you couldn't hurt a butterfly if you wanted to."

"I almost resent that," he said in an attempt at a snooty tone of voice, "I can be plenty vicious when I want to."

"Couldn't hurt me then," Harry amended.

Which made them all beam with unrestrained pleasure. They could have sat around trying to convince Sirius all day about this, but in his mind it would have been more like false hope. He just couldn't shake the horrible image swirling around his brain that he'd gone crazy in that place, and could actually harm his little pup. Coming from Harry though, even his instincts rather than actual memory, made him want to get up and hug his godson all over again that he was still so confident of this feeling no matter what he heard.

He did of course remember how Sirius Black had ended up in prison, and clearly all of Harry's elders thought he'd be terrified to find he was next on the list, but Harry agreed with something Mrs. Weasley had said, there was no better place for him then Hogwarts. Surely since his headmaster had been the one man Voldemort himself had feared, it stood to reason his second

All five of them snorted in disgust again, never not finding that one of the most laughable and insulting things yet.

would feel the same.

"I'm respectably afraid of the Headmaster," Sirius opinionated, though no one had asked him he felt obligated to answer anyways. "There's a difference!"

"Sure Padfoot," James said in a soothing voice, giving him a condescending pat on the head, making Sirius swat it away and call James something that made Lily snap, "Sirius!"

Harry and Remus were reduced to laughter again. It didn't fully erase the unease that this topic kept bringing up, but it did remind them all that they were still in the present time. This was not a bloody prophecy to come, they would fix this mess!

Harry also decided that these guards must be something to recon with, and if they were blocking all entrances to the school, surely there was no way Black could get in.

Sirius scoffed, this time his cocky nature made a full appearance. No damn dementors were going to stop him from seeing his pup.

No, what in fact was really keeping Harry bummed out, was the fact that all of this meant he most definitely was not going to be visiting Hogsmeade this year.

Which made the four of them dissolve into renewed yet sad laughter all over again. To them, their world was still tipped upside down because of this constant reminder of such news, and yet Harry was still stuck on this one small thing in the grand scheme. It wasn't really funny, it still made them want to cry that Harry would never properly know Sirius as the Uncle he should have been, but in that moment it was better to laugh then cry.

Sadly Harry now reflected that everyone else would consider this a good thing he'd be locked away in the castle for the year. Then his annoyance began to spike as he realized they all thought he couldn't handle himself. He had come face to face with Voldemort three times now,

"Not something I wanted to be reminded of," James pointed out, "no matter how impressive it is."

he wasn't completely useless.

"Useless," Remus rolled his eyes, "is the wrong word for sure."

"Besides, I've no doubt you could take me down just by batting your eyes a certain way," Sirius grinned, smiling indulgently at the boy, "so maybe they should send you after me."

This time James popped him lightly on the back of his head, ignoring that stupid comment.

Then his mind once again flashed back to that stray dog, that omen, before he snapped out loud to himself that he wasn't going to be murdered!

"Of that I'll make sure," Sirius whispered, mostly for James benefit who looked all the more annoyed now Harry himself was saying that type of stuff. At Sirius comment though, James relaxed like he never had before during this story. Hagrid, Dumbledore, and the Weasleys were a great source of protection for his son, but he did recognize in that moment the light in this dark subject. Sirius was free, and he would sooner give his own life then let anything happen to Harry. He prayed to Merlin it would never come to that sort of thing, that there would be a miracle sometime soon and the real cause for Sirius' imprisonment would be found and Sirius would be free to look after Harry as he always properly should have, and that was the most reassuring thing of all.

His mirror told him to keep his spirits up.

"That's the end of the chapter," James declared trying to pass the book along to Sirius, who didn't exactly look keen on reading.

HPHPHP

* question submitted by RoyalRose161, if anybody has any other plot holes or just random questions you'd like to see me try and explain away, feel free to ask.

#The Marauders #Harry Potter #fanfiction #James Potter #Lily Potter #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #reading the books #PoA #Prisoner of Azkaban

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offical-dystopiantale · 5 years ago

Text

*Chapter 4: Together*

Ink: age 26

Error: Age 27

“Is the blindfold really necessary?”

Ink giggled, steering his taller boyfriend through their cozy home, pushing him into a chair in their dining room. “It’s very necessary! It’s your birthday, and I’ve got a surprise!”

“You don’t have to blindfold me to give me a blowjob, babe.”

“Error!” The small skeleton smacked Error’s arm, his partner erupting into laughter. “Good god, you’re so dirty minded sometimes.”

Ink walked away from the table, leaving Error sitting there, still blindfolded, and pulled out an ice cream cake from the freezer. He had originally wanted to bake a cake, but it would have been nearly impossible to hide that from the other monster. It would have both heated up their place and filled it with the smell of baking. Then there was the whole buying the ingredients, which would have been very suspicious to Error.

He did however, manage to buy two candles: a two and a seven.

Outside, snow was falling in large puffs, covering the ground in a cold, white blanket. It looked magical, and Ink hoped they’d be able to take a walk later on. The white skeleton hummed, pushing his two candles into the frosting before carefully lighting them.

He took the cake, walked back to his boyfriend and set the cake on the table in front of him. “Ok! Take off the blindfold!”

Error brought his hands to his face, pulling the blindfold off. He stared in surprise at the cake, then his gaze softened as he looked up to Ink, who had taken a seat adjacent to him. His cheeks were flushed, and the darker skeleton chuckled and blew out the two colourful candles. “I know you said you didn’t want anything too… extravagant for your birthday, but I wanted to do something for you.”

Error reached across the table, intertwining his and Ink’s fingers. “It’s perfect, thank you.”

“I was thinking, since it’s so pretty outside, we could go on a walk later!”

Error chuckled, putting two pieces of cake onto plates, handing one to his partner. “Sounds good sweets, we could go to that coffee place you like so much.”

The monster nodded enthusiastically, taking a bite out of his slice of cake.

Error helped Ink tie his scarf later that evening, laughing when the boy complained. The walk was very nice, with the large snowflakes falling around them as they walked hand in hand along the streets.

They entered the small coffee shop - a small, cozy cafe called “See you Latte” - and the familiar sound of the bell above the door rang out. “Ink, Error! It’s so good to see you two again!” The shop’s owner, a small cat monster named Nari, greeted them as she started getting their usual drinks prepared. The two monsters came here very often, and as a result the owner and most of the workers all knew them very well. Ink happily struck up a conversation with Nari and her employees, while Error opted to take a seat, letting his gaze wander around the warm building. It wasn’t busy tonight, there were only three other customers: what appeared to be another couple, and a student working on some project of theirs.

The two skeleton’s got their drinks and, despite Error’s protests, Ink paid. Sitting at their table, ideally playing footsie under the table, Ink easily rambled; and the two joked and laughed loudly with each other, both of their souls warm and fuzzy from the other’s presence. At one point, the student gave them a sharp glare, which only made Error laugh more.

Eventually, once they finished their warm beverages, they bid farewell to the owner who was getting ready to close the cafe, and stepped back into the chilled night air.

At home, they had a bath to warm up - nothing sexual, Ink had brought in a book and Error had spent the time reading over his shoulder, and admiring his loved one as he relaxed against him. It was his favourite way to see him; just casually relaxing in his embrace, or one of his hoodies, obviously comforfortable and happy. Slowly, Error let himself drift off in his thoughts.

It had been many years since the boys had graduated and started dating - nine, to be exact - and they now lived in a cozy, two story home. A little after they graduated, they had moved into a small apartment. It wasn't the best, but it was their first home, and they had both loved it. Error quickly found a new full time job at a computer store - it was a job that he not only liked, but it paid better than his last job. Ink, on the other hand, got a job at a nearby library. It was quiet, peaceful and Ink had grown to love it (and his coworkers) dearly.

When Ink turned 23, the talk of marriage had popped up between the two men. They looked for a new home and found the one they lived in now. It was roomy with a large backyard - perfect for kids! - and once they had saved up enough, they moved in.

But, marriage plans were pushed aside when Ink’s mother, Winter, passed away shortly after they moved into their new home. No one had realized the severity of Winter’s illness until she told Ink when he was 21. She’d contracted a rare disease that was caused by complications during Ink’s birth.

Complications from childbirth, while rare for monsters, could not only still happen, but could take years before it is noticed. One of the rarest diseases fractures the pregnant parent’s soul because the baby’s soul doesn’t detach properly and takes a portion of the parent’s soul with them; which causes a chain reaction that eventually results in the parent’s death. This chain reaction, unfortunately, takes years to occur and is very hard to detect in the earlier stages. Treatment is nonexistent for monsters with this disease because, once it is found, there is nothing that can be done to reverse the damage.

After her death, Ink immediately started to blame himself; he felt that if he hadn't been born, his mother would still be alive.

Seeing Ink fall into such a low place …terrified Error. He knew what it was like to fall into a mind pit like that and he never wanted his loved one to feel the way he had. So he helped his boyfriend in all the ways he could think of. Of course he gave the small skeleton space and time to grieve, but Error made sure to remind him that he was loved and cared for by bringing up happy memories time and time again. He never questioned when Ink would suddenly become cuddly, practically clinging to the taller monster. He also got Ink to, begrudgingly, see a therapist to help him heal; the therapist helped Ink to see that his mother’s death wasn’t his fault. Although, if you asked him, Ink would deny it.

Even though Ink was now doing a lot better, marriage and kids never seemed to come up in their conversations anymore. A part of Error assumed it was because Ink didn’t want either of those things anymore, especially after what had happened with his mother.

Coming back to the situation at hand, Error blinked up at Ink. He had a towel wrapped around his body and was handing the other towel to the monster who was still in the tub. Taking the towel, he unplugged and drained the tub before drying off and getting dressed for bed. Leaving the attached bathroom, Error crawled beneath the pile of blankets on their shared bed. With Ink’s hatred of the cold, Error always made sure their bed was layered with blankets to ensure his boyfriend was always comfortable and warm. Ink followed him closely and snuggled up next to the ebony skeleton, his face nuzzling into the crook of his neck.

“Hey Ink?”

The small monster hummed in response, turning to look up at him.

“I…” He wanted to ask if Ink would ever want to marry him, have a family, but… well, he was a bit scared of the answer. If Ink didn’t want to, of course that was ok with Error, he was happy just as long as they were together. Plus, he didn’t want to somehow make Ink uncomfortable because of the question. “Nevermind, it’s not important.” He kissed the top of his boyfriend's skull.

“Oh, come on Erry.” Ink pushed away so that they were an arm’s length away. “We said we’d always talk to each other. So tell me what’s bothering you.”

Error sighed; he loved Ink with all his soul, but he sometimes wished the other skeleton couldn’t read him so easily. “Would you still want us to get married someday..?”

“What? Of course I do! Oh goodness, is that what you were worried about?” Ink giggled, curling up to his chest again. “You’re so silly sometimes.”

Error laughed nervously, nuzzling his partner. “Mh… I love you hun.”

Ink yawned. “I love you too.”

*****

“Wait, he hasn’t proposed yet?!”

Ink looked up at his coworker - Ray was the only human he actually knew, and they met each other through their work and had quickly become good friends. She had dark skin and shoulder length dark brown hair, one side of it cut to her scalp. Her hair was dyed purple at the tips, which Ink found fascinating. “Nope.”

Honestly, Ink was as surprised as Ray. After Error had asked that question about marriage on his birthday, he has assumed he was planning on proposing that week, or not long after, but here he was, four months later, and Error still had yet to pop the question.

“Haven’t you two been together for, what, seven years now?”

“Our ten year anniversary is in a few days, actually.” He turned back to shelving books. “Error has always taken his time with these sort of things, but this is… well, I figured we’d be married and maybe starting a family by now.”

Behind him, Ray cleared her throat rather loudly. Ink turned, then froze. Beside her stood a very worried looking Error, holding a brown paper bag. “Honey! What.. what are you doing here?” His gaze slipped to Ray, who was slowly backing away from them.

“You forgot your lunch so I made something for you…” His voice wavered and he looked down. Ink bit his lip, he’d definitely heard what Ink had said.

“Error, look, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“... am I taking too long? Are you going to-”

“No. I’m not leaving.” He sighed, taking the paper bag and setting it aside. “Look at me Erry.” The black skeleton did as he was told, and Ink reached up on his tip toes, cupping his face. “Yeah, as a kid I always pictured being married and having kids by 26, but that doesn’t mean I’m upset about how things turned out. I love you, and I’m ok with waiting until you’re ready.”

“But-”

Ink kissed him, ending his sentence. “You don’t need to explain anything, I understand, ok? And I’m not mad. At all.” He pressed a kiss to his boyfriend’s nasal ridge for good measure, then let him go. “thank you for the lunch - I don’t know how I forgot it again.”

He giggled and Error rolled his eyes, his nervous demeanor changing back to his cocky attitude. “You’ve always been forgettful as fuck.”

Ray popped back up around the corner. “Aspine’s saying she wants you at the front Ink.” Ray dramatically rolled her eyes, clearly displaying her distaste for the rabbit monster. Not that Ink liked her very much either: ever since highschool she’d been hitting on Error, and hasn’t stopped even though they were now all adults and he was clearly taken.

“Probably saw me come in and wants to get you away from me.” Error said with a snort, smirking when Ink’s face turned down to a pout. He never took things like this seriously. As far as he is concerned, no one’s fruitless flirting would make him leave his cute little boyfriend.

Ink sighed. “I hate working front desk. People always ask me why a child is working.”

“Weeeeeell-”

“Don’t you start.”

The ebony skeleton chuckled, leaning down and giving him a gentle kiss. “I’ll leave you to it then, see ya later hun.”

“Bye Erry.” He waited a minute, watching him leave, then made his way to the front desk; mentally preparing himself for all the annoying comments and looks.

*****

Error patted his pockets, feeling the hard lump of the ring box and blew out a puff of air. Was this a good idea? He had been planning this before he heard Ink talking to his friend about it in the library, but what if Ink thinks he did this because of that overheard conversation and gets upset?

He was sitting in their car, parked outside of the old Library that his boyfriend worked at, a fully packed picnic basket sitting in the back seat with a folded blanket on top. A few weeks ago, while mindlessly scrolling through social media on one of his breaks, he had seen something about a meteor shower happening on this day. After doing more research about it, he learned that it only happens every 5000 years, and is told to be very beautiful.

It was just what he was looking for.

He packed a rather large picnic basket after dropping off Ink’s lunch - he had made sure to take the day off in order to get everything ready, and planned to take Ink out to “their” hill right after the boy was done work.

There, under the spectacular meteor shower, he planned to propose.

He just hoped everything would go as planned.

The library was one of the older buildings in the city; Blightview was a very old city, but modern architecture gave it a very modern look despite that. The building was made from thick stone, with small details carved into them; Error decided it was a very nice building to look at. One of the large, dark wood doors opened, and out walked Ink, chatting amicably to his friend, Ray. Error didn’t know her well, but from what Ink had told him, she seemed nice, albeit a bit strange. The small monster’s gaze found the black skeleton, and he waved excitedly, bringing a small grin to Error’s face. Ink said goodbye to his friend, who also waved to Error, then practically sprinted to the car, flopping into the passenger seat. “Hi sweetie!”

“Hey sweetheart.” He quickly kissed his cheek bone, then pulled the car out of park, driving away from the large building. “How do you feel about going on a picnic?”

“Huh?” He noticed the basket in the backseat, understanding washing over his features. “Oh! That certainly came out of nowhere, but it sounds nice!”

“I read about a meteor shower happening tonight, I figured we could go to the hill and watch it together.”

Ink giggled, making Error’s soul sing in his chest. Funny how, even after all these years, small things like that never failed to make him feel that. “That sounds lovely~ Maybe later we could have a little “meteor shower” of our own~”

Error snorted. “And you say I’m the dirty minded one?”

*****

By the time they made it out to the hill, the sun was nearly gone, sinking into the ground, bleeding into the sky with oranges and pinks. Ink helped Error lay out the blanket and unpack the basket, even though the ebony monster had insisted that he didn’t need any help.

Once everything was out, Ink snuggled up to his boyfriend, nuzzling into his chest. A moment of panic crossed over the larger monster - the ring was literally in his pocket, what if Ink felt it? It would ruin the whole surprise.

But the small monster didn’t say anything, holding his plate of food and watching the sky as the stars started peaking out.

“A lot of things have happened here.”

Error hummed, following Ink’s gaze to the sky. “You got that right.”

“Our lives.. always seem to lead us here. It’s our spot.”

The two were silent for a moment after that, eating their food and watching the starry sky, waiting for the star show.

“I believe… that everyone has that one person they were meant for. Like their souls are connected to each other, even before they bond. Somebody who, no matter what happens, you always end up with, and love. Nothing could pull them apart.” He looked to his boyfriend, small tears in the corners of his large eyes. “You’re that person for me Error. I… I can’t even begin to express how much I love you, and appreciate you in my life.”

Error cooed, using his thumb to wipe away his tears. “Ink… there’s another reason I wanted to take you o-”

The white monster suddenly gasped, pointing to the sky. “Look! It’s starting!!”

Error turned, his eye’s widening as he took in the sight before him. It was like bright shooting stars were falling from everywhere in the sky, trailing bright pinks, blues and every colour of the rainbow. It lit up the sky and the ground with stunning colours. It was gorgeous.

Despite that, it was Ink’s face that made Error melt. The boy’s eyes were huge, the lights reflecting in them, and shining on his already flushed face. His mouth was pulled up in a smile as he stared up in wonder at the sky.

Now’s the time.

Carefully, the skeleton took his lover’s hand and stood, pulling up the small monster with him. “Ink, I need to ask you something.” His voice was hushed and Ink pulled his eyes away from the sky to lock eyes with him. He looked so perfect.

Error slowly went down on one knee, letting go of Ink’s hand, he pulled out the small box from his pocket. Realizing what was happening, Ink’s hand flew up to cover his mouth, new tears forming in his eyes.

“I’ve never loved someone as much as I love you. I… don’t know what I would have done without you, you’ve helped me through so much, and for that I’ll always be grateful.” He opened the small box, the ring inside reflecting the bright and colourful lights around them. The ring was engraved with small carvings along the band, leading to a small blue crystal in the center. After learning that Ink’s last name, Agate, was actually the name of a crystal, he knew that that would be perfect for the ring. “Ink… will you make me the happiest monster in the world, and marry me?”

The white skeleton was smiling, tears falling freely from his eye sockets. “Yes… Yes!! Of course I’ll marry you!!” Error grinned widely, tears forming in his own eyes. He carefully slid the glimmering ring onto Ink’s small finger then stood up, wrapping his arms around him.

Ink was crying, gripping Error’s shirt and rambling about how happy he was as Error suddenly picked him up, twirling him around, erupting giggles from the monster. “I love you so fucking much.” He hummed, pushing away his tears and kissing his new fiance.

Still giggling, Ink placed his hands on either side of Error’s skull, placing their foreheads together. “I think this is the start of all the bad stuff being behind us, right?”

“Oh definitely.” Error nuzzled Ink, who happily nuzzled him back. The ebony skeleton sat back down, his partner curled up to his chest as they watching the stunning meteor shower. Together. In each other’s arm.

Life was perfect. And Error had never felt so happy, and lucky.

“I mean, what could wrong now?”

~The End~

Ink and Error will return in DystopianTale

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mrsseverussnape · 4 years ago

Text

Love Is You

characters: Scarlett Rose(oc), Severus Snape, Sirius Black, Carina Black(oc), Leo Black(oc), Scarlett’s parents

word count: 2239

Love Is You -> Chapter 29- FINAL

It has been 7 months since Scarlett and Severus moved into Scarlett’s retirement house in Naxos. Severus has quit his job because he wanted to spend all of his time with Scarlett after he found out about her heart illness. Scarlett hasn’t wanted him to do that sacrifice for her but Severus was persistent. When they moved Naxos in June, first couple of weeks passed with decorating the house; their choice of decoration style was a mix of coastal and Greek. After the decoration was done, Scarlett needed to accomplish her other retirement dream which was buying ducklings! Severus reconciled Scarlett that buying only 2 ducklings is enough. She has wanted more but they ended up buying a yellow one and a Rouen one. Scarlett named the Rouen one “Cookie” since it has dark spots and looked like a chocolate chip cookie, yellow one was Severus’s to name and he named it “Milky” just to go with cookie and milk theme. Luckily, Scarlett’s cat Athena got along with the ducklings and they all became the cutest trio ever.

Scarlett wanted to spend rest of the year in Naxos too, they went to London for 2 weeks in September for Scarlett’s yearly check-up and to visit her parents and Carina. When they came back to the island, it was calmer than before since the summer season has ended and all the tourists were back at their countries. They liked it better that way and enjoyed the silence of the island. Everything was going good and well until November arrived. Like how trees lose their leaves in fall, Scarlett started to lose her health. Now she was waking up nauseous every morning and the moment she got off the bed dizziness was adding to it as a plus, some days she wasn’t able to eat anything whole day because of that. In addition to this her blackouts became more frequently, and she would faint regularly. Somedays Scarlett would be in such a bad mood and cry her eyes out until she fell asleep. These days were the worst ones for Severus, he would try his best to calm her down and ease her pain but after Scarlett fell asleep, Severus would go by the sea and cry there all by himself.

“Wake up princess...”

“Dad...” Scarlett looked at him sleepy and tried to sit up. “You came.”

When she realized all the people she wanted to see was in the room, her sad eyes sparkled with happiness. “You all came!”

“Of course we did mummy!” Carina jumped on the bed to snuggle her.

“Be careful Carrie.”

Leo warned her, he was extremely tense since he found out about his mother’s condition. Leo was the mummy’s boy since birth and he adored Scarlett in every way. Possibility of losing her was killing him.

“It’s fine Leo, come join us baby.” Scarlett held a shaky hand out for Leo who happily accepted it and snuggled into his mother too.

“Siri...”

“Yes kitten.” He smiled softly at her.

“I want you to promise me one thing.”

“What is it?”

“When... when i am gone, please take care of Carina and Leo also yourself. I want to make sure that you all will be just as fine even i am not with you here no more...”

“No no no, don’t say such things. I don’t wanna hear those Scarlett.” Sirius held her hand tightly and kissed her knuckles.

“We will see our kids’ weddings and have grandchildren; we will be the coolest grandparents! Where do you think you are going without doing any of these!?” Sirius joked but his eyes were filled with tears, he was having hard time while trying not to cry.

Scarlett’s lips trembled while the tears were running down on her cheeks. Her heart broke thinking that she won’t be able to live any of these events Sirius just said.

“Don’t buy little motorbikes to our grandchildren for their first birthday.” Scarlett joked trying to change the mood.

“Ah damn, i was just thinking that!”

Sirius laughed but shortly his laughters turned into sobs. He snuggled into Scarlett who was halfway laying, she wrapped one arm around him while playing with his hair with the other hand. This was the way how Sirius copes with sadness, he would rest his head on either Scarlett’s chest or lap and let her to play with his hair until he was calm again. But this time Scarlett cried with him too, they poured out all the sadness they held inside.

“I want you to know that, i was so happy with you and i didn’t have any regrets. I think our friendship and marriage were more than just decent, they were perfectly splendid. I loved you very much Sirius Orion Black, i still do.”

Sirius finally looked up at her face, his cheeks were wet from the tears he shed; he sat up slowly.

“Scarlett Serafina Rose, i love you more. You are the best thing ever happened to me. I am so so so sorry all the times i made you sad, none of them were intentional... You are my one and only.”

Without a thought, Sirius closed the gap between their faces and pressed his lips into hers. Familiar feeling of 26 years filled them but this kiss was different; it was a farewell kiss and both of them knew it. Their tears mixed into the kiss and Sirius couldn’t take it anymore; he run out of the room crying. Severus came to their bedroom soon after he saw Sirius run outside.

“How are you Scar?” He asked while changing into his pyjamas.

“Good, i guess...?” She had a weird feeling whole day since her loved ones came but she couldn’t understand what; it was like she was cured in a day.

“I wanna see you...”

“Why is that love? Did you miss me?” Severus hugged her and kissed her tear-stained cheek.

“I will miss you...”

Severus was about to ask her what she means but before he could, Scarlett kissed him passionately. This took Severus by surprise; since Scarlett’s illness got worse, the only intimate moments they shared were soft and slow kisses. She slowly pulled away and whispered into his ear.

“You are my first, my last and my everything. I will keep your love evermore, Severus. I love you.”

“Tell me you love me...” Scarlett’s whisper brought him back to reality.

“I love you more than anything in the whole wide world Scarlett, you know that. You are my luck.”

Severus kissed her one last time. Scarlett rested onto his chest then he started to sing their song “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” to put her to sleep while playing with her hair. Her eyes closed slowly and she dived into a peaceful sleep.

“Surprise! Just how you wished for your birthday, love.”

“I haven’t wished for snow this year, i have only wished to be able to celebrate it...”

“We can start celebrations right now if you want, it passed midnight. Happy 56 my love!”

Scarlett didn’t respond to him; she was staring at him rather sorrowfully. He leaned against the wall behind him to support himself.

“I am not here, all of this happening in your head Severus...”

Severus shook his head while whispering “no” constantly.

“I died that night in your arms... It was your scream to wake everyone up in the following morning... You all took me to London for my funeral...”

“STOP! Please stop...”

Severus cried out while sliding down the wall to the floor. He buried his face into his palms and cried his heart out. When he calmed down, he kissed Scarlett’s promise ring which he was wearing on his pinkie now.

“I love you Scarlett... We will meet again…”

taglist: @fific7

#severus snape #pro snape #harry potter #fanfic #fanfiction #harry potter fanfiction #sirius black #sirius black x oc #severus snape x oc #severus snape fanfiction #severus snape fluff #severus snape angst #sirius black fluff #sirius black angst #sirius black fanfiction #loveisyou #mrs.severussnape #mrsseverussnapefanfic

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strawberry-skies-xx · 4 years ago

Text

those blessed days

C H A P T E R 2

author’s note: fanart at the end of this is by me. lyrics are still from So It Goes by Robert Hallow and the Holy Men.

94 days after

A month passes. They’re two states away from the coast, away from Florida. Jaskier has written two more songs from his stories, learned four more songs by heart from the band he loves. Geralt falls asleep with Jaskier in the backseat of the truck more often than a bed in a hotel, skips more meals than eats them, doesn’t tell Jaskier. He only has to make it to the coast, then he and Jaskier can build their lives together.

At Jaskier’s insistence, Geralt uses his skill at picking locks and disarming alarms and breaks into an ice-skating rink at night. They spend hours skating - Geralt isn’t particularly graceful, but he can skate, and he finds that watching Jaskier dance on the ice, illuminated by the lights and glowing, is far better.

His chest aches.

Geralt sits in the backseat of his truck, falling asleep, listening to Jaskier sing his favorite song from his favorite band in a quiet voice, guitar strings echoing in the silence. “ Another silent spectre that you’ll keep at bay, while I stand raging at a silent sea,” he sings.

They spend three more nights watching the sunset, two of which end up with Geralt carrying an unconscious Jaskier to the backseat of his truck, one of which ends up with Geralt falling asleep right in the truckbed and Jaskier beside him. All three end up with them curled into each other.

Geralt watches Jaskier, spends the days in a pulsing haze of want. His chest aches.

43 days before

“Why are you sad?”

Geralt looks up as Jaskier slides to a sitting position beside him. He stretches his legs out, throws aside the half-shredded green leaf. Finds he doesn’t know what to do with his fingers after that and leaves them awkwardly in his lap.

“Did a DNA test,” he says roughly, less forthcoming than usual, even with Jaskier.

“And?” he prods. Geralt pauses, continues after a beat of silence.

“My biological family has a history for illness.”

“What kind of illness?”

Geralt sighs. “Don’t know. Vesemir wouldn’t tell me. He said I don’t have it.”

Jaskier slides his arm behind Geralt. Geralt envies the easy affection Jaskier gives, wishes he could give it back so freely.

He doesn’t know how, but he leans into Jaskier and wants to learn.

113 days after

“What do you think, Geralt? Green, or blue?”

Jaskier holds up the two silk shirts - one a deep, rich shade of emerald green, and the other a navy, midnight blue. Geralt doesn’t understand why he needs silk shirts, of all things, but it’s Jaskier and the extravagance fits him, somehow.

“Either works,” Geralt says simply.

Jaskier sighs, rolls his eyes. “You’re absolutely no help.” He holds the emerald green up to himself, glances down and puts the blue shirt back on the rack. “I’ll pick for myself then.”

Geralt waits until they’re both back in the car to say, “Would’ve looked better in blue.”

Jaskier groans and smacks him on the arm. “I’m never going clothes shopping with you ever again.”

“Yeah, you are.”

Jaskier sighs, dramatic and defeated. “Yeah, I am.”

38 days before

Geralt really should’ve known that of all the malls Jaskier could have taken him to, of course this one would have the extravagant sweets shop, and of course he should’ve known that Jaskier would drag him into the store as soon as he caught the scent of cinnamon beneath the smell of pretzels and fries.

“Geralt, fuck, there’s a Cinnabon here,” Jaskier says excitedly, pulling Geralt into the store, “do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had one of these?”

The entire store smells like cinnamon and sugar, almost sickeningly so. Geralt always had a stronger sense of smell, more sensitive senses, than anyone else. If it was up to him, he would’ve turned tail right out of this store, let alone come anywhere near it.

But, it’s up to Jaskier, and Geralt would do more things than he liked to admit for Jaskier.

“Geralt, share one with me,” Jaskier pleads, “they’re absolutely huge and I can’t finish one by myself. Well,” he amends, “I can, but I only did once and I severely regretted it after. They should put bathrooms closer to this store, honestly.”

Geralt fights the smile tugging at his lips listening to Jaskier ramble. He rolls his eyes. “No.”

Jaskier groans. “Come on, Geralt, just once? You never eat anything sweet, indulge me this time? It’s Cinnabon!”

Geralt sends a flat look at Jaskier. “I’m not going to indulge you once because then you’ll ask me to indulge you every time after that.”

Jaskier’s mouth drops open in offense. “I do not ask you every time.”

Geralt simply crosses his arms, leans back against the wall. His lips quirk up against his will and he gestures at the register. “Well?”

Jaskier, upon the realization that Geralt can’t be shaken in this, huffs and glares without heat. “Someday I’ll get you to actually do something fun, like a normal person.”

“Someday you’ll go up to that register and actually buy what you came in here for,” he retorts.

Jaskier rolls his eyes and turns to the register. Geralt lets himself smile and watches Jaskier spend far too long choosing a delicacy.

121 days after

“You know what I never told you about my Witcher stories?” Jaskier says, completely irrelevant to the conversation they were having. Geralt looks at him; Jaskier looks back. There’s fear in his blue eyes, and something softer, fragile like glass. “Jaskier loves Geralt.”

Geralt wishes he could run. Knows Jaskier wouldn’t let him, somewhere in him doesn’t want to.

“I love you, Geralt,” Jaskier repeats, softly, like the wind in their hair when they sit in the fields on the side of the road watching the sunset.

And, Geralt has never been good with words. He’s better at actions; better at leaning slightly down, tilting his head just so, swallowing Jaskier’s noise of surprise by slotting their lips together.

Jaskier’s lips are soft. Geralt’s hands curve around his waist, hovering, touching, fingers skimming beneath his shirt. He pulls away when he can’t breathe, drops his head on Jaskier’s shoulder. Breathes in the scent of lemongrass and dandelions and honey, is intoxicated by it.

“Love you,” he growls finally, roughly into Jaskier’s skin. Feels his chest ache again.

Soft lips press against his. “I know.”

23 days before

“Jaskier?”

Geralt picks up the phone, fear and panic shooting through him as Jaskier’s voice, rough and broken, comes through the other end. He sounds suspiciously like he’s been crying.

“Geralt,” he breathes, sobs.

Geralt’s whole body tenses. Eskel appears in the doorway to his bedroom, concern on his face despite the fact he’d only met Jaskier once. All four of them knew Jaskier’s house was less than welcoming to him.

“Jaskier,” he repeats, firmer. “What’s wrong?”

“Can you distract me?” comes the response, too fast. It’s followed by a quiet hitch of breath.

Geralt frowns, stands up. His body itches, he feels the adrenaline rushing through him, wants to fight or flee and can’t do either because this isn’t a problem he can touch. “Why-“

“Just distract me, please,” Jaskier replies, cutting him off, voice pleading and frustrated beneath the tears.

Geralt lets out a breath. Meets Eskel’s eyes. Keeps his voice steady when he responds.

“Okay. Okay, what do you want to talk about?”

136 days after

Jaskier leans back against the seat with his guitar. Geralt takes a drink from the soda can and listens to Jaskier’s voice fill the car, rising and falling on every note, feels his chest ache.

“But now and then I dream, so should this could be, another silent spectre that you’ll keep at bay while I stand raging at a silent sea-“

Geralt lunges forward and cuts off the singing with his mouth, kissing Jaskier softly yet insistent, feels him smile against the kiss. Geralt pulls away, keeps his face close to Jaskier’s chin, breathes the next lyrics of the song against the pale skin.

“Those blessed days I’ll keep,” he tilts his head back up and recaptures Jaskier’s mouth in another fleeting kiss before pulling back and meeting his wide blue eyes, “those blessed days I’ll keep.”

Jaskier’s cheeks are flushed a pale red and Geralt thinks he sees something shine in his eyes. He’s too focused on the way Jaskier’s fingers skim lightly over his hips, though, the way his voice comes out soft and breathy and awed, as if he couldn’t believe he had someone like Geralt.

“Fuck, what did I ever do to deserve you?”

Geralt lets Jaskier kiss him again, lets his arms curl around his back and follows Jaskier’s guidance down to lay on the seat with the musician above him.

Jaskier’s eyes light with mischief and adoration and love, hands smoothing under Geralt’s shirt and over the hard muscle, lips curling up in a smirk. He leans down and kisses Geralt again, nips his lip with his teeth and smiles when Geralt groans.

“Can’t believe I have you,” he whispers against his skin.

before

Geralt hesitates, dials the phone number he knows almost as well as Vesemir’s, Eskel’s, and Lambert’s. He holds the phone to his ear and leans back against the seat of his truck.

“Geralt?”

Jaskier sounds confused - perfectly normal, they never call each other in the middle of the day. Geralt’s eyes flick up to the hospital sign in front of him and he lets out a breath.

“Geralt? Why are you calling? Is something wrong?”

Geralt’s voice is steady. “No. There’s nothing wrong. Just- just wanted to.”

It’s silent. He hasn’t convinced Jaskier, he knows, but it doesn’t matter. By the time Jaskier figures out where he is, there truly won’t be something wrong, or there will be. Geralt hopes there isn’t; he checks the clock.

“I have to go,” he says.

“Wait, Geralt- this is- what is this? You don’t seem like yourself- you know you can tell me if there’s something wrong? I really hope you would tell me if anything was truly wrong-“

“Jaskier. I’m sorry. I have to go,” he interrupts, and hangs up before he can stop himself. He looks up at the hospital sign, lets out a breath.

He gets out of his car and starts walking across the parking lot.

237 days after

They make it to the coast. Jaskier makes a name for himself as a local musician, a poet, an artist. Geralt makes a name for himself as a handyman, smart and quiet but friendly, able to do the jobs that need muscle.

They still watch the sunsets, sit on the cliff by the sea with the wind howling and the waves roaring in their ears. Jaskier buys a Polaroid camera with the last of the money from his parent’s credit card, says they might as well give me something I actually like with their money. It’s cheap, and used, and has more than a few scratches and chips, definitely isn’t up to date with technology, but it prints out pictures of the sunset, of Geralt - of Jaskier, when Geralt feels like it. Jaskier dates them meticulously in blue pen and curving numbers, keeps them in a box with the old, worn notebook containing his Witcher stories and ideas (and some of Geralt’s notes with the doodles), and the first music journal he filled up.

Geralt comes home from stacking wood for the neighbors, surprisingly slightly out of breath. He doesn’t find Jaskier in the living room, doesn’t find him in the kitchen when he calls his name and looks.

Finds him in their bedroom. He looks small, in his navy blue sweater and black jeans, kneeling on the bed with a familiar torn, stained, folded piece of paper in his hand, lined with black ink. Blue eyes look up to meet his, filled with so much betrayal and fear and pain.

“Geralt,” he says, quietly, flatly.

Geralt’s chest aches. He stands in the doorway. Wants to run, wants to curl up in Jaskier’s arms. Does neither. Swallows.

“When were you going to tell me?”

It’s a whisper, barely a whisper, but Geralt hears it, hears every emotion in that musical voice.

“Wasn’t,” he says quietly.

“You weren’t going to tell me,” comes the flat response. There’s no yelling, nothing of Jaskier’s usual dramatics, and somehow that’s worse. Jaskier stands up, sets the paper aside on the bed.

Fuck, Geralt’s chest aches.

“I called you at three in the morning. Laid myself out bare to you. Trusted you to be the one I could count on,” Jaskier says, walking closer, voice so, so calm and almost shaking with unrestrained… fear. Pain, anger, betrayal, hurt, despair. Geralt can’t keep track of them all.

“Three months,” Geralt says to the silence.

“You’re my boyfriend, who rode with me across half the country to go buy a goddamn house on the coast and spend our lives there,” Jaskier continues, ignoring Geralt. “And you knew you were a dead man walking the whole time. I was looking forward to spending years with you, Geralt. Not- not some, some selfless heroic parody of those years, either, where you slowly waste away with fucking lung cancer and I don’t know until it’s too late.”

Geralt is silent. He’s always silent. Jaskier is silent for a long moment, breathing heavy, but he continues; he always continues. He’ll continue for the both of them like he always has, when Geralt goes truly silent.

“Well. You have three months,” Jaskier says, quietly, anger gone as quickly as it had come. “I can get treatment for you in that time. It’s not entirely incurable, right? We can-“

Jaskier’s voice is worriedly bordering on the edge of hysterical. He chokes off his sentence, tries again with a shaky voice.

“We can save you. I’ll make a deal with my parents.”

Geralt looks down. “I’m more likely to die,” he says quietly. “More than half do within a year of diagnosis.”

Jaskier sends him a glare. “Dammit, Geralt, that doesn’t help!” He pulls out his phone and starts dialing a familiar number. Geralt can see the sheen of tears in his eyes, reaches out and catches Jaskier’s wrist, lets it drop when it falls limp.

“Don’t call your parents for this,” he says. “There’s nothing we can do.”

The hand holding the phone drops to Jaskier’s side and he looks up at Geralt with an emptier look than he’s ever seen on the musician before, blue eyes hollow. Geralt hates it. “Then what are we supposed to do? I can’t sit here and watch you-“

He shakes his head, walks over to the bed. Wipes his eyes and sits down.

“You can,” Geralt says. Jaskier laughs, harsh and bitter and clipped.

“You’re not the one discovering the person you’ve loved for eight years loves you back, only to have them ripped away from you,” Jaskier retorts.

Geralt growls. “You think I’m not that person?” he asks, voice harsher than it’s ever been. Jaskier’s eyes flick up to him in surprise.

“You think it’s not hard for me too? You fall in love easily. Instantly. I don’t. For me, it’s slow, gradual. I don’t know I love them until they’re either gone, or I’d do anything to make them stay. Usually they’re gone.” He stops, pauses. Forces down the emotion, the tears threatening to spill over. “Then you go up on that fucking stage in fucking high school, singing and playing guitar, and then you keep fucking talking and won’t fucking leave and you-“

He stops again. Jaskier is silent, waiting for him to continue. His voice is quieter.

“You don’t leave, you aren’t scared of me, you don’t think I’m a freak.” He gives a short, humorless laugh. “You even fucking got along with Lambert.”

Jaskier laughs at that, too, clipped and just as lacking in humor. Geralt looks at him, feels like he’s swallowing shattered glass.

“So we’ll fade from each other. And we’ll make the best of it.”

He ends his rant on a surprisingly soft note, finding a different ache in his chest when he thinks about dying slowly, thinks about watching his future with Jaskier drain slowly along with his life.

“Okay,” Jaskier says, shaky, and then tries again, steadier.

“Okay.”

243 days after

Jaskier takes a picture of Geralt in the light of the sunset, sitting on a rock, white hair illuminated by the fiery reds and golds. He dates it, tapes it to the inside of the top of his photo box.

273 days after

Vesemir, Eskel, and Lambert all hear about Geralt’s diagnosis. Vesemir tells Jaskier he knew he was hiding something after the trip to the hospital he took just before he ran away with Jaskier.

They have a small wedding. Vesemir, surprisingly, has a marriage license and officiates the wedding. Geralt dances with Jaskier until he’s out of breath and Jaskier leads him away from the dance floor, out to their cliff by the sea and kisses him for hours, soft and sweet, and Geralt carries Jaskier back inside when he falls asleep, curls up with him in their bed. They wake up tangled together in the morning.

Jaskier tapes the picture of the two of them at the altar with the sunset picture of Geralt in the photo box.

282 days after

Geralt stops taking jobs a week after the wedding, spends his time closer to home, doesn’t work as hard. He comes up short of breath anyway.

298 days after

Jaskier pretends he doesn’t see the tissues in the trash can covered with blood, forces his smile to be brighter when Geralt starts coughing.

304 days after

Jaskier himself sleeps fitfully, wakes up in starts and moves his hand to Geralt’s to feel the warmth thrumming through the skin. Breathes out his relief, falls asleep. Wakes up two hours later and does it again.

316 days after

“And when it comes back, love, that deep exhausting dread. Your matchstick warrior’s here to carry you up to bed,” Jaskier sings to Geralt, sings to his still form, sings to the honed chest that rises and falls evenly still, sings to the rattle in Geralt’s lungs when he breathes.

319 days after

“Stay with me, Geralt.”

321 days after

“No wonder now, no ghosts, no subtle scented smoke, no crowded trains or crossword puzzles, shows or stupid jokes.”

322 days after

Jaskier wakes up at three in the morning. He keeps his eyes fixed on the ceiling. Moves his hand so his fingers brush against Geralt’s.

Cold. Still.

Jaskier closes his eyes and cries silently, shaking in the bed.

after

He wakes up hours later with dry eyes. Sits up, doesn’t look to his left. Faces the wall as he changes, walks out of the room after without looking at the bed.

Eskel finds him three hours later, sitting on the floor with the shattered remains of his coffee mug and the liquid itself pooling around him, mixed with the salt of his tears and the frantic, nearly hysterical way he tries to clean it up, broken, frustrated sobs leaving his throat as he fails.

“I have to clean it up,” he says, “can’t just leave it there, that would be messy and-“

Geralt doesn’t like it to be messy, he doesn’t say.

“Jaskier,” Eskel interrupts, gently. His fingers curl around Jaskier’s wrists, pull him away from the mess. Jaskier struggles against him, shaking his head.

“No, I have to clean it up. Let me- please- let me clean it up,” he repeats. “It’ll hurt. Ceramic. It’s- sharp, dangerous, I have to clean it up. What if- what if someone gets hurt.”

Eskel bites back a sarcastic comment and a bitter laugh at that. They’ve all already been hurt, he doesn’t know what a broken ceramic mug would do.

“Jaskier,” he says, sharply. He listens then, blue eyes widening as he stills. Eskel reads the helpless fear and sharp pain in the man’s eyes as he looks at Eskel, sighs. Pulls him close and sinks to the floor with him, arms wrapped around him.

“So much fucking coffee,” Jaskier says quietly, almost normally several moments later, finger flicking in the light brown puddle. Eskel nods, stays silent as Jaskier gives a short, hysterical laugh and drops his head back into Eskel’s chest.

“We’ll clean it up. We’ll fix it,” Eskel says.

They don’t move for several hours.

after

Geralt leaves almost everything he owns to Jaskier, gives some things to Eskel, Lambert, and Vesemir. Jaskier doesn’t know what to do with it. He doesn’t think the other three do either.

after

They cremate Geralt, give the ashes to Jaskier. He offers for Geralt’s actual family to do the honors - they were much closer, anyway. All three refuse and say that they went through their grief, they don’t need to prolong it. Jaskier is the one who needs the closure. They all do, but that goes with the things left unsaid.

Jaskier holds the bag of ashes, holds his happiness, stands on their cliff alone.

after

The next picture taped to the inside of the photo box is taken by Vesemir.

Jaskier sits on the rock on their cliff, illuminated by the scorching hues of the sunset, black silk shirt and jeans highlighted honey-gold. The wind howls around him; the waves crash against the rocks below. Jaskier’s guitar sits in his lap, head tilted back as he sings out to the sky and the sea, voice rising and falling, cracking and breaking. Geralt’s ashes drift on the breeze, carried out to the ocean by the wind.

“Lay me down my friend for so it goes. See the waning of a grace I’ve never known, know that you will always find a home in me. So no sorrow, no. I cannot wait to see you…”

#geraskier #the witcher netflix #geraskier fanfic #geraskier fanart

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