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ajbwasntwriting · 4 years ago

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Daughter!Reader X Negan, Reader x Daryl: Chapter 8. Civil Unrest

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For all intents and purposes this is filler so the next chapter will be up in the next few minutes

I’ll only post more chapters if previous chapters get a good reaction so if you enjoy this please heart it, reblog it, and/or reply to it. Interaction inspires.

if you wish to be added to the tag list please dm me. All chapters can be found under the tag AJ’s Negan’s Daughter AU

In a few days you were up on your feet, your need to survive driving your fast recovery. As soon as you could sit up without nearly fainting and you could bend your fingers without much pain you started taking patients. Mainly burns and cuts. You kept your head down while working, adding to your intimidating reputation. They didn’t realise you were just trying to conceal yourself while looking for familiar faces. You rarely left the medical bay, even when it was icy cold.

Carol checked on you regularly, seemingly incredibly concerned for you. It almost pained you to suspect her to be out to get you. Luckily she seemed convinced that because you had been alone for so long that you’d take a long time getting used to the walls. Maybe she figured out that you were just biding time for leaving again.

“Are you okay?” Laura pulled you from your thoughts. You looked up suddenly, nodded, and went back to your reading. All these patient profiles from the previous physician were thorough. “Why would Emmett be this detailed with extremely basic medical care” you tought, then again he was a captive here just as much as you were. He probably had nothing better to do. “Are you sure? You look so serious.” She continued. You looked up to her. She was lying on one of the beds chewing on a piece of hard plastic. Having to keep a watch on ‘The New Doc’ would’ve been extremely boring.

“Just a lot of reading” you sat up and stretched your arms, not realising how long you had sat hunched over the hand-written pages. “Doctors have horrible handwriting and this guy sure likes to drag his point out”

“How bad is it?” She asked. You lifted the profile of another patient and followed along with your finger.

“The left Thenar has suffered tremendous infliction resulting in the loss of elasticity and possible avulsion of the tissue” You read aloud in a dramatic voice

“What?” Laura said, taking the plastic out of her mouth for a moment

“He pulled the muscle in his thumb, possibly tearing it” you flopped the paper down, rubbing your forehead.

“And all those pages are full of that shit” Laura pressed. You sighed with a nod.

“I never thought I’d be grateful to have done AP english.” you sighed

“Okay smart ass no need to show off” Laura chuckled, chewing on the plastic again.

“Please,” you sat back in the chair “My old man made me do it. ‘You already speak english so it should be a breeze’ he said”

“Those kind of parents?”

“You’re familiar?”

“Yep” Laura sat up, hunching over her now crossed legs. “My dad was a lawyer. Mom was an accountant. They kept pushing me to over achieve”

“Bet they weren’t happy with that” you spoke, pointing to your neck to reference Laura’s tattoo. Her hand went over it instinctively.

“I had already skipped town with my boyfriend before I got this.” She laughed. The smile melted away as she slowly stroked her neck. “Hadn’t seen them since. Probably dead.”

The room got a lot more quiet. It was crazy to think you both were so close in age but had gone through so much hell in the same world. But Laura was a saviour. You were Negan’s kid. If you were to be friends it would have to be at an arm’s reach.

The momentum changed when Carol arrived in, holding a small tray with cookies on them. The smell told you they were fresh. Your heart wanted to tell her to get out, but those cookies smelled too damn good.

“How’s the hard work going ladies.” she spoke with a cheery voice, setting the tray down in front of you. You were on it instantly. You took a cookie with you as you limped over to lock the door to the medical bay. “Any news?” Carol whispered

Carol had asked you and Laura to investigate the uprising of Negan supporters in the Sanctuary. Well, mainly Laura since she would know more people in Carol’s eyes. The payment, cookies. Though Laura would probably do it for free. She enjoyed the new peace that came with being aligned with the other settlements.

“Just the usual hot-heads” Laura sighed. You limped back to your chair.

“They like to complain to me.” you gently sat down. You’d only been back walking without the full splint for a couple days now but the clunky half splint on your lower leg wasn’t exactly walker friendly. “‘You should’ve seen how great we were when Negan was running the place’ and other shit”

“What do you think of it?” Carol asks you seriously. You suck the sugar off your fingers happily.

“He mustn’t have been that good if he’s not in charge anymore.”

They had their little meeting then as Carol was leaving you piped up,

“How’s the bridge team?”

“No.” Carol retorted quickly as if speaking to a child. “You are not going out there how many times do I have to tell you.”

“I could help-”

“You’re needed here Y/N” she spoke firmly.

“Yes, mom.” you groaned from your chair, earning a laugh from Laura. Carol left quickly.

“Why do you wanna join the bridge team so badly?” Laura asked through a mouthful of cookie.

“I miss the fresh air, I guess” and there’s more chances to get away from you all.

That evening you were restless. Normally it was the pain that kept you up late but it also exhausted you. You got out of the medical bed you’d claimed as your own, one of three that outfitted the med bay. You limped your way out of the medbay, not bothered if you woke Laura. The bathroom was down the hall so she would just assume you had to pee, especially since you had taken the torch dedicated to midnight bathroom visits. Being the medic gave you the luxury of a torch instead of matches and a candle.

It hurt to climb up so many stairs, with both your wounds and the cold seeping into your skin, but you’d be tired by the time you came back down anyway. You walked onto what used to be Negan’s floor. Your ‘family’s’ floor. You’d wanted to see it for a while now, out of curiosity more than anything else.

You first went to your father’s room. Pushing the door open you felt a burst of cold air whip around you viciously. The room has been stripped of its furnishings, right down to the carpets. Taken away to be burned most likely. The windows were shattered, the bullet holes in the ceiling giving away the method. It was so completely devoid of any sign of human life one would say it always had been. You closed the door and continued onto the parlour where the wives would spend their day. This room didn’t have windows but the room was still completely void of any of the glamour that once adorned it. The only remnants was the wall paper which was peeling off due to the damp.

The image of the forgotten rooms didn’t stir emotion in the way you thought they would. You imagined getting overwhelmed with emotion, but you felt nothing. No that wasn’t right, you felt a loss. Not a loss of the grandeur you had gotten to enjoy in captivity, not a loss of the fake smiles from your many ‘mothers’. You felt a loss of your father. You mourned the man you had called your father, and the idea that all that was left of the memory of him were these halls where cowards bowed to him. You felt an overwhelming realisation that the man you called ‘Pops’ had died long before ‘Negan’ formed.

Your final destination was your room. You figured it would also be empty but your room was a bit away, down the end of a hall few knew how to get too. You’d had more roaches as visitors than people. Your father had chosen it for you so the ‘common nobodies’ wouldn’t see you easily, another measure to keep you safe.

It also worked the other way as you round the corner and see a light coming from what used to be your room. The hall was lined with offices and storage rooms you knew you could dive into if someone appeared so you turned off your light and walked down the hall gingerly on your feet. You were now only a couple feet away from the door when you heard voices coming from the end of the hall, from what used to be your room.

“I still can’t believe they put this bitch here to keep an eye on us. That fucking redneck was an ass but atleast he didn’t pretend to be all fucking nice”

“It’s probably a play to get us to relax. They’ve got us locked in this factory and don’t give us nearly enough food, and they won’t let us go to the other settlements”

“We’re prisoners. They said they only wanted to lock up Negan but now we’re all starving.”

“Enough of your bitching.”

They went on to talk about how many people were on their side and their efforts to get weapons. They clearly had no idea you were listening. After all, what kind of idiot is gonna climb up over ten floors for no reason. Other than sentiment perhaps. It sounded like there were about four people in the room, but they spoke like they had a few under their influence. They were looking for weapons and a means to get back at ‘Rick and his posse’.

“We’ll bring them that bitch Carol’s head on a spike for them.”

“What about the bridge? We got people working there for food.”

“And then what? They’re just gonna keep extorting us for slave labour or let us starve.”

You were so drawn in by their words that the door opening startled you. You charged from your spot into an open room, a storage closet of a sort. You knew it was too risky to close the door so you stood against the wall next to the door. They walked along the hall bantering loudly. You sidestepped deeper into the room, knocking something with your foot making a loud metal sound. The voices stopped and you instantly froze, holding your breath like your life depended on it. A light shun into the closet, then the other way.

“Probably just a rat” one of the voices spoke. “We can set some traps and stew it for dinner”.

They continued down the hall, their steps growing faint a minute or so later. The adrenaline began to subside and the pain from the recent strain on your leg made itself very apparent. You stepped out of the closet and walked down the hall to your old room. Maybe they left some evidence you could use to barter for your freedom.

You opened the door to your room, only illuminated by the moonlight coming from the window. Unlike the other rooms, your room hadn’t been completely ransacked. The mattress had been taken off the frame but the metal skeleton remained as well as the rug under your bed. Other than that it appeared empty. You turned on your torch to get a better view.

On your bed frame lay what had to be near a hundred dead wild flowers. Your breath caught in your throat at the site. You moved and sat on the bed frame, the metal sending a chill up your body. You placed a hand on the dry stems and something hit the ground with a thump. You moved to look under the bed as quick as you could, reaching under the bed you cut yourself on something sharp. You moved your torch on it and grabbed it again, this time from a less dangerous end.

Under the bed you pulled out the knife that had your name engraved on it. The metal shun bright in the light as if lovingly polished until it’s inevitable abandonment. You hadn’t realized you had begun to cry until a tear fell onto the blade and began to fill the engraving.

~Tag List~

@bodeckersbitch @lauren-novak @aestthete

#AJ's Negan's Daughter AU #twd negan #negan fic #negan twd #negan the walking dead #the walking dead negan #negan x daughter reader #daughter reader #daughter x negan #daughter reader x negan #twd daryl #daryl dixon #the walking dead daryl #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon x reader #twd carol #carol peletier #the walking dead carol #twd laura

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saladejin · 4 years ago

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Admire | 04

Seokjin x Fem!Reader | arranged marriage!au, husband!Seokjin | Strangers to lovers, angst, self discovery, loneliness in luxury, touch starvation (eventual smut), eventual domestic fluff

Summary: You’d never needed anyone else. Growing up alone, living alone, existing alone. It all came naturally and effortlessly, quite like breathing. That was until your somewhat distant parents finally decided it was time to make good on a promise. One they’d made before you were even born.

Warnings: Brief mentions of semi-absent parents

Word Count: 2k

A/N: Hey there, this is just a short chapter I decided to post as a bridge to the next part of the story-line. Hope you enjoy :)

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“I know that you’re living a different life now (Y/n), but you still can’t skip out on the annual summer road trip,” your mother’s voice chided. You held the phone away from your ear slightly to avoid bursting your own eardrums.

“But - am I just meant to go on my own and leave the house? The road trips aren’t exactly meant for…”

You trailed off with a weird strangled noise in your throat, knowing that saying ‘people like him’ would only sound bad. Seokjin looked up at the changing tone of your voice, eyeing you with an intense curiosity. There was no way he didn’t pick up that it was him you were referring to.

You had been sitting together at the dining table, feasting on an old-style Italian pasta dish you’d decided to whip up right before your mother called. It was one of the only times you two had actually eaten together since getting married, as you usually just ordered food whenever you were hungry or ate out somewhere his driver would take you.

You had just been shocked that the stoic man agreed to share what you’d made in the first place.

“He can come along, no worries. I’ve already told the guide that you’d be bringing your husband anyway, since I just assumed he’d go with you,” your mother said in a dismissive tone, seemingly distracted on the other end.

Shit, right. We’re meant to be in love.

“Okay, but it’s going to be pretty different to what we’ve been doing so far.” You sighed, thinking about all the high-class parties you’d attended in the last few months, twirling some pasta around your fork absent-mindedly. Seokjin was going to be way out of his element here.

“Then it’s settled, you leave in a couple of days. Remember the meeting spot?”

“Yes, Mum. Bye then.”

You hung up the phone and sunk back into the chair across from Seokjin, exchanging his look with one fizzling with tension. Not one of you had touched your food since you took the call.

“You going to tell me what that was about?” he hummed after eventually moving to swallow down the last of his meal with a satisfied sigh.

“Yeah, just trying to figure out how to tell you.”

He seemed a tad concerned, but didn’t push any further. You sat and brooded with your thoughts for another minute or so before running your hands slowly through your hair in exasperation. You could almost laugh at how strange this was going to be for him.

“Okay so we do this thing every year, although my parents don’t usually go, where our extended family and friends have a summer road trip out to the countryside and sometimes stop by the beach. It’s kind of like a break from the busy lives they all lead, and it’s … such a big difference from their wealthy lifestyles,” you explained, not catching any change in facial expression from the handsome man across from you.

“So … I used to tag along because like you just heard, my mother nags me to go, and the trips always turned out being not half bad. If anything, I enjoyed getting out and seeing the different ways of life the people there lived. It was a nice change of scenery too.”

You realized you were ranting and cleared your throat, pushing your half empty bowl away from you. Seokjin looked like he was pondering again, but you were already guessing the thought of a road trip probably put him off terribly.

“Look, my mother said you’d come along but no one’s going to force you. It’s just a getaway thing that lasts for a couple of weeks, I wouldn’t be gone for too long. Maybe you could attend a party or ball by yourself for once, it’d make everything much easier for you-”

“I’ll go.”

You blinked at him in shock, but he only gazed back with a spark of interest flashing in his dark eyes. The raw emotion was such a rarity for him that you had to blink again to snap out of the awed emotion that was now warming up your cheeks.

“You will?” you squeaked, hating how high your voice had pitched itself.

“Yeah, I don’t want life to get boring. I’ve never done something like this, so I’ll see how it goes,” he replied simply, a small smile resting on his lips as he took in your expression alighting with appreciation. Was he always this adventurous? Maybe deep down, there were sides to this man you had yet to discover.

“Well, we leave in a couple of days. I can tell the driver the meeting location and everything… uh, are you sure?”

“Yes, (Y/n).”

You got up from your seat and swept up your dishes, feeling an odd excitement flood your whole chest at the prospect of going on a retreat with Seokjin. Getting to spend some time with the man who was slowly but surely warming up to you was such a promising idea. Plus, lately you’d been wanting to get closer to him. Your need for pure company was becoming overwhelming.

You wanted your own husband to be the person you could turn to when you needed attention … but after giving it too much thought, you knew that there was no way he’d care enough to want to put up with that. It was borderline foolish of you.

“So, you didn’t really go on many holidays?” you probed quietly after rinsing the bowls. He’d shifted himself from the table to one of the kitchen stools to watch you work. You felt oddly comfortable under his searching gaze, even if you did look quite average in your tracksuit pants and simple white tee.

“If my father’s business trips count?” Seokjin snorted in dry humour. You could tell he was legitimately curious about the whole road trip thing, which was so baffling to you considering he’d barely tried to ask you about your life at all.

“Well, what did you do on those trips?”

You wiped your dripping hands on a dish cloth and sat across from him, only the sparkling white benchtop separating the two of you. You had been spending a fair amount time in this position during the past week or so, and it filled you with joy having these longer interactions with him whenever it happened.

“My father would take my brothers and I when we were younger to his workplaces. Teaching us his ways and getting us prepared for when we would take on jobs at the firm. My mother did her own thing, but would only talk to us about what we’d done that day. Maybe there was the occasional shopping trip for new clothes, but both parents were busy most of the time,” he said rather sourly.

Seokjin was obviously tired of having to spend so much of his life pleasing his own mother and father. You couldn’t have imagined how repetitive it all must have been, then again you didn’t really know what it was like spending time with your own parents in the first place.

“Can you tell me what you used to do, then?” he asked suddenly. You raised your eyebrows in disbelief, because he was asking about you, but then you felt bad for painting him in such a bad light. He wasn’t a terrible person; he just hadn’t engaged this much before. That’s why you were taken so off guard when he looked at you straight in the eyes and asked you the question so calmly.

“Um, yeah of course.” You smiled as the feeling of warmth enveloped your very soul, “So… since I never went on business travels with my parents, the only form of a holiday I ever experienced were these trips. They helped me relax and took my mind away from everything.”

You breathed out deeply at the memory of the countryside breeze, and the feeling of the piping hot beach sand crunching underneath your toes. You could only imagine the feeling of the sun’s rays kissing your skin as Seokjin watched in a mildly fascinated state.

“We’d travel as a large group in separate motorhomes – by the way we’ll most likely get one to ourselves – and stop in many small towns along the way. We’d go on walks and find lovely spots to eat lunch, and we’d visit special lookouts along with other cool cultural sites. The best thing was when you got the day to just venture through the place on your own, doing whatever you wanted and exploring the country.”

You unclasped your hands and let your voice die in your throat, not wanting to subject the man to more of your wistful reminiscing. He was hearing all about memories you held close to your heart, because throughout your school years the travelling was what’d kept your mind relaxed and stress-free.

“Sounds like it’ll be interesting for me. You said we’ll be given a motorhome, so we’re the ones driving?” he questioned quietly, almost as if he didn’t expect you to cut yourself off so soon.

“Yeah, I grew up with that brand of vehicle so I can do most of the driving. I’ve got my license,” you assured, barely stifling a giggle as you recalled memories of learning how to drive a motorhome for the first time.

“We can take turns,” he replied shortly, raising a strong eyebrow at you as if daring you to challenge him. You nodded in a slight daze of shock.

So you can drive too, huh.

You never would have guessed, after knowing that the handsome man had been chauffeured around basically his whole life. What need would he even have for a driver’s license?

“Well, I’m going to bed. I’ll start packing for this trip, just let me know if I need anything else,” Seokjin announced with a grunt as he slid off the chair and made his way around the bench to stand before you. He was dressed pretty casually as well, with a light blue button-up shirt hanging over grey trousers, but he still looked so unfairly tasteful.

“The only thing I’ll really say is just bring casual, but comfortable clothes. Oh, and a hat or cap if you have one,” you said, feeling giddy with anticipation for the holiday already. He nodded to acknowledge the advice, resting his weight onto one foot and pursing his thick lips as he thought about if he did, in fact, own a hat.

“Goodnight then,” you spoke after feeling something strange wash over you. This random urge to show him how elated you truly were. Your steps were bouncy and full of life, similar to the fitful pounding of your heart that felt full to the brim.

You stepped forward and placed your hands upon his crossed arms, then stood on your tiptoes and pressed your lips to his smooth cheek. He didn’t jerk away or tell you off, just stood rigidly still for a few seconds before leaving the room to head to bed. It was only after he was gone that it finally hit you.

No way… did I just do that? Did I actually just freaking do that?

Your face erupted into a fiery crimson blush and you almost slammed your head down into the benchtop below you. All the couple-like actions you both performed at the parties must have made themselves a habit of yours, and since you’d been feeling so happy the desire to kiss him just leapt out.

“Idiot, oh my God,” you whimpered to yourself, busying your hands by cleaning the rest of the kitchen in a hurry. The fact that he hadn’t said a single thing scared you. Did he hate it? Or did he like it, or did he just not care? There was no way of knowing!

You scurried off to your room and heard the door shut behind you a little louder than normal. Your embarrassment was flowing thickly through your veins at this point. You just needed to bury your head under the covers and forget that the whole thing happened.

It wouldn’t take long for him to forget, right?

#seokjin x reader #seokjin scenarios #seokjin smut #seokjin imagines #seokjin series #jin smut #seokjin angst #seokjin fluff #arranged marriage au #husband jin #bts jin #bts smut #jin angst #admire #saladejin

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wahbegan · 6 years ago

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I’m Depressed Let’s Talk 25 Things You Probably Didn’t Miss and I’m Just an Asshole About the It Chapter 2 Trailer Let’s Goooo

You know the drill by now and if you don’t you can look in the tags and laugh about how wrong I was anyway putting the rest under a cut

1. So this scene’s almost beat-for-beat straight from the book, with variations to make it more cinematic. The sign says Marsh when she rings the doorbell, and i’ll bet you anything like Its eyes changing from yellow to blue in the storm drain, they’ll keep the thing from the book where Mrs Kersh opens the door and when Bev looks again, it says Kersh instead

2. Kersh’s open chest wound/rotting flesh isn’t from the book, i assume it’s a reference to The Shining

3. The “it gets so hot you feel like you could just die” and “I had cookies in the oven” are both references to the witch from Hansel and Gretel, which is what Mrs Kersh really is. I mean she’s REALLY an interdimensional clown-spider from outer space but you get the idea. I don’t know if they’ll be as blatant as in the book, it looks like the house doesn’t turn to candy anyway which makes sense

4. The antique photo of the twin women may be another Shining reference

5. The picture on her wall of her and her “fadder” brings up some interesting possibilities, but my money’s on Andres Muschietti i believe stated at one point in an interview or AMA or tweet or something that in his universe, there was an ACTUAL Pennywise that It killed to take his form, and he was one of Its favorite victims and that’s what the old PENNYWISE travelling circus thing at the bottom of Its trophy heap is from, so it’s very possible this is a photo of the real dude and his actual daughter before his identity was usurped by The Sewer Clownspider From Outer Space

6. The bruises on Jessica Chastain’s arm seem to imply they’re keeping her abusive husband and her fistfight with him when she tries to leave for Derry intact

7. Oh yeah before I forget, Kersh’s “no one who here ever really dies” i know is a bit nonsensical but in the book, it explains that Derry was made “In Its image” and everyone who lives there is sort of influenced by It, almost part of It, and Its victims are forever “trapped in the Deadlights” so that’s probably what It meant is that even in death, in Derry there’s no escape from It. It will take your form, It will go after your loved ones, you will float in Its Deadlights, etc.

8. Oh yeah also her apartment has a bird motif and It appears as a bird several times over the book but more importantly to Bev, during the....ahem THAT scene, she sort of...dissociates? She starts daydreaming about power lines with hundreds of grackles all over them and she fends It off by saying the grackles know Its real name as an adult, so that’s probably i mean i doubt any of that will be referenced i think it’s just a fun little set design easter egg

9. The Losers looking in the window and seeing themselves as kids is probably at the end of the movie as Eddie isn’t there and it happens right at the end of the book, or something very similar i believe it’s actually Bev looks in a window and sees they still look like adults, but she sees adult Stan and Eddie’s reflections alongside their own which is very emotional and this looks to be a version of that

10. Yeah the town is...weirdly empty i’m not sure why i mean the town gets its shit wrecked at the end of the book since it was made in Its image, when It (allegedly) dies, the entire town is destroyed by a massive storm that doesn’t look to be the case here, but the town being completely devoid of life i’m assuming has a lot to do with Its influence

11. Yeah the Chinese Restaurant scene from both book and miniseries is intact, it remains to be seen whether they’ll get insane shit in their fortune cookies or not. If I had to guess, based on the way the first one went, something will probably be up with them but the ante will be upped and it won’t be as campy as the miniseries version

12. This scene of It taunting/luring Bill by pretending to be Georgie in the sewer is completely Muschietti’s own creation, It only appears as Georgie when they’re already underground in the book, looking monstrous and with his arm ripped off, so i have no idea where this is going. Oh, wait, hold on, when they all split up to okay so basically if you haven’t read the book they’ve all repressed most of their childhoods and don’t really remember shit until Mike calls, right? So after the Chinese Restaurant reunion, they all split up and go different directions to trigger memories and re-familiarize themselves with Derry. It’s at THAT point Bev meets Mrs Kersh, Richie meets the Paul Bunyan statue (more on that in a minute), etc. Bill though doesn’t have a run-in with It, he just finds his old bike Silver in a pawn shop. So Muschietti probably inserted this scene to be his encounter with It on his walking tour of Derry. Also bit of opinion here but can i just say it’s an AWESOME parallel a simple but very effective stroke of genius calling back to by far the most infamous scene of the book and both adaptations, that was brilliant on Muschietti’s part.

13. They’re pushing Bill/Beverly in this trailer which is a subplot i really hoped they would drop because Bill is fuCKING MARRIED and she ends up with Ben at the end anyway, so it’s pretty pointless padding and just a reason for the dude to have an affair, but alas, they appear to have kept it intact.

14. Yeah, so this is where they defeated It the last time, the tower of floating kids and victim trophies appears to be gone, which is probably what prompts them to go deeper (also more on that in a second). I assume they end up going down the place Pennywise retreated to last time to find Its real lair.

15. Okay yeah Pennywise floating off of a Paul Bunyan statue with a pyramid of balloons while Richie freaks out is also right out of the book, it’s his “Walking Tour” scare, when he was a kid the statue came alive and attacked him, and as an adult, it actually turns into a giant Pennywise statue and fucks with him. I’m not sure if the statue is actually going to come to life because that is a bit hard to translate to film or if they’ll take the easy way out and just have Pennywise on the statue, it remains to be seen. Although, the inverted triangle of balloons and fucking off while laughing is what It did to Eddie in Chapter 1 after chasing him as a Leper, so that could be an indication that It’s just gotten finished pretending to be the statue and fucking with Richie.

15. Mike’s digging for something? I have no idea why other than Mike in the book is the narrator, local It expert, and sort of amateur detective trying to find out what crimes are It related, so he could be trying to dig up a body of a missing kid or something, i do not know

16. The balloons under the bridge are straight out of the murder of Adrian Mellon, which i believe Muschietti said is going to be the opening of this film. It’s definitely the inciting event for It to wake up. Basically these assholes harass this gay couple at a fair, which you see a couple flashes later in the trailer, follow them, see them on this bridge and beat the shit out of the one guy who talks back to them and then throw him over the bridge. This hatred and brutality wakes It up, and both Adrian’s boyfriend and the youngest of his attackers see It under the bridge biting his ribs “like he was trying to eat his heart.” The boyfriend, Don Hagarty, then sees It disappear with Mellon, who is just barely but STILL ALIVE at this point, into a giant cascade of balloons under the bridge

17. Yeah judging by how fucked up this house is, i think where Pennywise is attacking Mike is his early childhood house where his parents burned. Also not in the book, also i assume a scare put in during his walking tour of Derry because he’s the other character that doesn’t get one.

18. Now this is a really interesting shot and one i’ve heard several theories about. It could be the original, human Pennywise losing his shit, it could be It transforming, it doesn’t really resemble anything from the book so it’s hard to tell. One theory i’ve heard that i really do like though, it holds no more merit than any of the others, but i personally like it the best, is that this is actually Henry Bowers we’re seeing. Because he did survive, he got the murders for the original cycle pinned on him in the book and was sent to a brutally run mental hospital, and It breaks him out to have him try to kill The Losers. This could be him, mid-mental breakdown, applying make-up to look like Pennywise. Homeboy’s face is too jacked to really tell who it is, and the background’s not helping much so it is a mystery, but it does look like a human, it doesn’t have the proportions of Pennywise’s face, and i do like the idea that it’s Henry. But yeah also very likely it’s the original human Pennywise meeting some gruesome, horrible fate. There wasn’t a human Pennywise in the book, by the way. I mean It liked to talk about how Its name was Bob Gray and It was a human, but It’s just lying. This is 100% Muschietti’s contribution to the lore.

19. Now THIS place, where the flashlights are almost shining green with the black alien-looking stalagmites, i mean this has gotta be Its real, final lair. Not quite the same as the book, but giving off a very similar vibe, keeping the cosmic origin intact, which Muschietti did say he was going to do so. Oh yeah, i forgot to mention before when there was a shot of him in the sewer, but in the book and miniseries, Mike is actually badly wounded by Henry and has to sit out the final fight with It, but that doesn’t look to be the case here, he seems on the scene, which is really nice after his side-lining in the first movie.

20. Yeah the fair i was talking about that’s where Adrian Mellon and Don Hagarty are first harassed by the homophobes who later run into them again and murder Adrian

21. Eddie has a bandage on his face it looks like in the final fight scene, probably giving to him by Henry. So Henry like i said It winds him up and sets him loose on The Losers, but he only succeeds in badly wounding Mike, who badly wounds him back, and he’s actually killed in a fight with Eddie. I assume the bandage is a result of that fight

22. Oh yeah just small side-note, it looks like the fair where Mellon and Hagarty were first accosted by the homophobes is still up and running and Bill visits it for some reason, which isn’t in the book, i don’t know what that’s about, but it’s probably a new lil story beat for him. Exciting!

23. Bev drowning in a pool of blood isn’t in the book at all, so i have no idea what they’re doing. Jessica Chastain though did mention in an interview though that one scene used a frankly ludicrous amount of fake blood, possibly the most ever although Evil Dead is giving it stiff competition, and i don’t think it’s much of a gamble to say this is probably the scene in question. What makes that interesting is she also had an instagram post about washing all the fake blood off and out of her hair, whereas this is clearly Sophia Lillis drowning in the blood. So it seems like there’s gonna be some time fuckery where it cuts back and forth between both child and adult Bev experiencing some kind of trauma which is really cool, the book did that a lot, blurring the line between the kids and their adult selves, and i’d love to see that in this movie. Oh yeah also almost goes without saying but i assume it’s some sort of continuation/ante-upping of the blood-out-of-the-sink bit

24. It looks like they all participate in the Ritual of Chud, rather than just Bill and Richie like in the book, which....which actually i like and makes a lot of sense, because frankly you don’t notice when you’re reading it but afterwards you’re kinda like “wait were they all just kinda standing around doing nothing while Bill and Richie had all the fun?” So yeah, good decision. Also yeah clearly alien architecture

25. The girl under the bleachers i assume is just one of the murders that prompts Mike to call the others back to Derry, if not THE murder, it doesn’t have an exact parallel in the book that plays out like this. But what’s interesting is the little light It uses to lure her in closer, when he claps it out and then lets it shine again, it’s clearly spooky orange which is THE DEADLIGHTS color so it almost seems like It’s luring a kid over to It with one of The Deadlights in disguise which is....very interesting, not a thing that happened in the book, in the book it was much more “the second you see orange light your brain melts out of your ears, eyes and nose” so it’s pretty cool. Also Its apparently friendly smile and “Hello!” are a lot like when It took Georgie and i really appreciate that

SO THAT WAS 25 THINGS ONLY A FUCKING IDIOT WOULD MISS IN THE NEW IT TRAILER WHAT DID YOU THINK DID YOU CATCH ANYTHING I MISSED REMEMBER TO COMMENT LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE AND RING THE BELL FOR NOTIFICATIONS

#Stephen King's It #It Chapter 2

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ilovemesomekillianjones · 6 years ago

Text

All Aboard - Part 2/3

Hey guys!! The first part of this story was written for the CS Cocktober event, but I couldn’t resist! I wanted to write more for this story anyway, and with a few requests to do so, I decided to do it. So, here are the next two days which Emma referenced at the end of part one. Smut and fluff. Additional tags: mention of minor character death, light angst. Thanks @hookedonapirate for beta reading!!

ao3 ffnet rated E 10K+ words

Seriously, here’s my cut line...

Emma hummed quietly to herself in the shower as she washed away the smokey smell of the casino she and Killian had visited while stopped in Winnemucca, Nevada. The train had been slightly delayed due to a sand storm that was brewing over the northeastern region of Nevada.

They’d thought about just staying in their room during the 8 PM stop, but when the delay had been announced, Killian had suggested an outing. As such she and her travel companion had decided to hit the town since they now had almost six hours instead of just under two before they departed. Dressing for the evening, they’d headed out to see what the tiny town of Winnemucca had to offer. It turned out there wasn’t much, so they’d decided on a casino where they could eat, drink, and play games.

Emma had never been a winner before, but it seemed no matter where she put her money down, she’d been a winner tonight. She’d won at blackjack, roulette, and hit a mini jackpot.

“I must be your lucky charm,” he’d purred into her ear when she hit a $775 dollar jackpot on the Dangerous Beauty slot machine he’d suggested was named after her.

“Oh, you’ll definitely be lucky tonight.” Emma had turned in his arms as the siren atop the machine blared loudly. Wrapping her arms around his neck and carding her fingers through his hair she’d latched onto his lips and rubbed her body against his.

“Does winning turn you on?”

“You turn me on, let’s go back to the train.”

“Soon, lass. Let’s eat, maybe you’ll make those divine noises for me again.”

“Fine,” Emma conceded as her stomach growled at the mention of food.

Killian had led her through the casino with a hand on the small of her back while they’d looked for a place to eat that was open in the middle of the night. They’d found a small diner and the hostess led them to a booth where Emma scooted into the first bench seat. Instead of sitting across from her, Killian scooted in next to her.

“Oh, how sweet. Are y’all newly weds?”

They’d both shaken their heads emphatically while answering in the negative.

“Celebratin’ an anniversary?”

“No, again,” Emma smiled fakely, growing more uncomfortable by the moment.

“Well you certainly do make a cute couple, whatever y’all got going on.”

“Thanks, lass, do you mind if we look over the menus before we order?” Killian asked, attempting to get rid of the overfriendly wait staff. He’d sensed Emma’s discomfort even as the woman left their table side, and in order to distract her, he’d leaned over and planted wet, hot kisses to her neck and ear. “Here to Chicago,” Killian whispered before biting down on her ear lobe. He chuckled darkly at the shiver that seized Emma’s whole body.

She’d turned and met his lips, immediately plundering his mouth to show him just what she had on her mind. “I want you, Killian.”

“And I you, Emma.” His hand slid between her thighs and massaged gently as he’d worked his way further to her center.

She was hungry for Killian again as her hands slipped over her body while she washed. Her mind wandered back to this morning and what she now referred to as sucking cock outside of Sacramento. Emma decidedly loved sucking Killian Jones off; he had a perfect cock, a long, thick, firm shaft and a velvety tip with a slit that had shot hard down her throat. She shivered despite the scalding water cascading down her heaving chest.

Finishing her shower as quickly as she could, Emma hopped out of the tiny stall, dried off, threw on her clothes and practically ran back to their room. She breathlessly opened the door and slammed it closed.

“Someone chasing you, love?” Killian questioned as he looked up over the papers he was pouring over.

Emma couldn’t remember when she’d stopped minding that he called her love; the endearment had kind of grown on her. She smiled lasciviously when he looked over the frames that rested low on the bridge of his nose to peer at her hungrily. He looked amazing sitting in the corner reclining chair wearing nothing but a pair of unbuttoned, well worn jeans, no shirt, and wet hair.

“So you have glasses too?”

“Aye, mostly for reading the fine print in these blasted contracts.” He tossed them to the side where they landed on top of his briefcase. Killian licked his lips as he looked Emma up and down. She had on a skin tight tank top and her hardened nipples poked at the fabric that was wet from her tousled hair, her shorts were just the right side of inappropriate putting her lean thighs on display. His cock twitched as he imagined just how those thighs would feel wrapped around his head.

“Why are you reading contracts in the middle of the night when there are much more enjoyable activities to be had?”

Standing from the lounge chair in the corner he took several paces toward her and pulled her into his arms. “I’ve been waiting, you were in the shower for a long time. Were you being naughty?”

“Mmmm, I wanted to be,” she admitted, “but then I decided I’d rather have the real thing.” She palmed his erection through the soft denim, then started to unzip him.

Killian’s hand was quick to cease her movement. “Not a chance,” he growled. “You will be first tonight, Swan.” He pushed her toward the bed while staring into her eyes like a hungry wolf about to devour its prey.

Emma’s whole body prickled with anticipation as she looked back at him, refusing to blink or break first. His next question shocked her a bit though, and she faltered, blinking her eyes and frowning.

“Top or bottom?”

“What, no foreplay tonight?”

Killian laughed a deep mirthful thing. “Top or bottom bunk, you concupiscent little minx.”

Emma joined him in laughter, partly at herself, and partly at his choice of words. “Who the fuck says concupiscent?”

“Those of us who don’t like the word horny use the word concupiscent.” He purposefully popped the t and rolled his hips into hers. “Now, top? Or bottom?”

“We already christened the bottom, I guess we could try and fuck on every surface we’ve been provided.”

“Stellar plan, Swan, now get these sweet cheeks up there.” Killian brought both his hands down firmly on her behind then squeezed.

She obeyed immediately, climbing the small ladder well to the top bunk. She paused when she heard him growl.

Killian watched as she climbed, her arse looked positively edible. He palmed himself as he watched her go, grunting at the contact. She had him more worked up than he could ever remember being over any woman. When she stopped to look down at him, he couldn’t resist. He stepped up to the first rung and slipped a hand into the leg of her shorts. Sliding them up over her cheek, he bit down on her pert flesh. His cocked jumped at her moans as he soothed the bite with his tongue and lips. “Gods, you have a delectable arse.”

Emma giggled at the way his accent got super heavy when he talked dirty. It was so hot, she couldn’t remember ever being this turned on and looked after by any man before Killian. Climbing into the bunk on her hands and knees she made sure to shake her ass in his face.

“Such a tease.”

“It’s not a tease if I let you have it.”

Killian inhaled so hard at the thought of her tight ass around his cock, that he choked.

“You okay there,” Emma laughed. She watched as he descended the ladder and reached for a bottle of water. She took that moment to get ready, maybe steal his breath away again.

“You’ll be the death of me,” he muttered as he caught his breath. He took a few more swigs of water before stripping off his jeans, and climbing back up to join her. The sight that greeted him was stunning. She was stripped bare, legs bent at the knee, feet spread wide and planted firmly against the mattress. One hand kneaded a breast and the other played languidly at her folds.

“It’s like you’re trying to kill me!” he gasped as he caught sight of her. Spread for him, her hand playing, first and third fingers spreading her folds while her middle finger stroked her clit. He wasn’t sure how he was going to manage this, the bed wasn’t long enough for them both to lay out, but he needed to taste her. “Scoot down, love.” Once she was close enough, he grabbed her wrist and brought her fingers to his mouth. He sucked each finger clean, then wrapped his arms under her thighs and pulled her glistening folds to his waiting mouth.

Emma’s hips bucked wildly as his tongue flicked feather light touches against her clit. It wasn’t enough and she struggled against the strong grasp he had around her thighs as he held her down to tease her. She whined needily as he continued to barely ghost his tongue over her most sensitive spot. “Killian, please.”

“You started without me, love. Very naughty.” He spread her thighs wider when he felt her try to squeeze them for some semblance of pleasure.

Emma carded a hand into his hair then yanked his head up so she could look into his eyes. “I am going to finish without you too if you don’t fu-”

Her words were replaced with a moan as he gave her the full pleasure of his tongue. He licked long flat strokes through her folds, tasting every drop that trickled down her drenched core. “I love the way you taste, Emma,” he murmured into her clit before sucking it into his mouth.

Emma’s grip in his hair tightened mercilessly as he held the perfect amount of suction over her clit so he could stroke it with his tongue at the same time. “So... good… oh…” She couldn’t formulate complete sentences as she watched him eat her out. Killian was watching her intently through darkened eyes, and it revved her up as they maintained eye contact through one of the most intimate experiences of her life.

“Touch your breasts, love.” Killian grinned against her folds when she mercifully released his hair to comply immediately. He stood on the stairs to the bunk, cock in agony as he couldn’t even seek friction against the bed, legs shaking as he worked to set Emma ablaze. He released one of her thighs so he could finger her pussy. Keeping his mouth focused on her clit, Killian plunged two fingers into her wetness, groaning as he anticipated shoving his cock in her.

Emma kneaded her breasts, pinching her nipples as he’d bid her to do. The second he released her thigh it wrenched closed, rubbing against the side of his head before extending fully over his shoulder and flexing down to her toes as she bordered the edge of bliss. When his fingers entered her suddenly, her breath caught, and her fingers clamped down around her breasts, grasping tightly as she crumbled under his exertions.

“Delicious,” he praised as he licked away every trace of her orgasm. Climbing the rest of the way into the bed he squeezed between Emma and the wall. One arm behind his head, and one thrown over his face, he was the picture of comfort.

“I don’t want the outside,” she complained. “It’s cold.”

“You’ll want to be exactly where you are for the way I’m going to fuck you.”

Emma arched an eyebrow and propped herself up on her elbow to face him. She traced a nail down the center of his chest, following the natural contours of his hair all the way down to where it gathered into a singular path toward his glorious cock. “And just how are you going to fuck me?”

“Give me a minute, love, I’ve lost a bit of feeling in me legs and toes from standing on that damned ladder.” He peeked out from under his arm and offered her a glistening smile, “Worth it.”

Emma glowed under the compliment and leaned down to kiss him. His beard was still a bit damp from her arousal, but she didn’t care, it was kinda hot tasting herself on him, she’d never done that before. Licking along his lips and into his mouth she was rewarded with a growl from Killian as he rolled to face her and pinned her to the mattress kissing her roughly.

They made out, kissing and caressing, alternating between moments of rough and feral need and tenderness. Killian’s hands were all over, he traced patterns along her sides, fondled her breasts, massaged the muscles of her back, and squeezed her perfect ass. Emma was more singularly focused, she jerked him off with one hand while her other hand cupped a muscular butt cheek. She delighted in the way the muscles of his ass and hip slid under her palm as he shallowly thrust into her warm hand. The pace they set was enough to drive him mad with want, but not over the edge.

“Turn over,” he grunted.

“You want me on my hands and knees?” she purred.

“Eventually yes, but we don’t have enough room up here for that.” He reached his hand straight up, touching the ceiling, and it was true, he’d never be able to fuck her doggy-style up here unless he wanted to be bent at the knee and at the torso.

“Turn over so you’re facing away from me.” Once she’d turned over he told her to put one arm under the pillow they were going to share, and lay her head down. “Reach under the mattress with your other hand.”

As she felt around Emma was surprised to find a foil package. “Well, you’re just a regular boy scout, prepared for every eventuality.” She handed the condom to him over her shoulder, where he was propped up on his elbow. He was silent for a moment as he ripped the package open with his teeth and then rolled the rubber sheath over his length.

“I think you’ll find there is nothing boyish about me.” Killian sealed his lips to her neck, sucking hard, then thrust his hips upward, sinking into her slippery depths.

A high pitched exhale left Emma’s mouth when he thrust into her suddenly. “Oh, you feel so good like this.”

“Just good?” Killian grabbed her thigh and put it up over his so she was spread a little more. Placing his free hand over her stomach he held her close, almost possessively, as he slid in and out of her at a lazy pace.

“You do not need your ego stroked.”

“It’s not my ego being stroked right now,” he rasped into her ear. “You feel like heaven wrapped around me. Your cunt is so warm, so wet, and swollen perfectly to take all of me, Swan.”

Emma whimpered as he muttered his filth in her ear. His hand tightened around her as he picked up his pace. She reached her arm around his back to hold onto something as he pistoned into her. There was the flex of his hips again, and it made her hotter feeling his body working to bring her pleasure. She understood now why he’d put her on the outside, he’d be fucking her into the wall right now if they were reversed.

Killian was getting close, the way she writhed and arched her back in his hold meant she was getting close too. He felt her hand cover his and slide it down her belly, and he knew what she wanted. He placed his palm against her mound and rubbed circles to her clit with his thick fingers. He pounded into her harder, “I’m so close, Emma. Come with me?”

When he wasn’t talking, his mouth was pressing kisses and bites along her neck and ear.

Emma couldn’t find her words and instead nodded her head vigorously. She needed to come again, the pressure was building and she felt as if she might burst.

“Now, love. Come all over my cock,” he commanded and then bit down on her ear.

A shiver broke across her skin when he bit and suckled her ear, but the final piece had been when he demanded that she come all over his cock. “Killian,” she moaned as he slammed home a final time.

Killian stilled his hips as he came at his deepest point inside her, letting her spasming walls choke and caress his cock through his orgasm. He leaned his head into her neck, panting for air. He wasn’t out of shape by any means, but she brought out an animalistic need in him that had him pushing the envelope of rigor. “You are fucking brilliant, lass.”

How did he do that, she wondered. From filth to praise in the blink of an eye. “You’re not too bad yourself.”

“I think you can do better than that,” he prodded, tickling her side.

“Hey,” she yelped. “No tickling!”

“Says who?” Killian squeezed her side again, eliciting the most captivating giggles he’d ever heard.

“Okay, okay! You were exemplary, fucking amazeballs, you have a distinguished supercock amongst mere mortals.”

It was Killian’s turn to laugh, and it was a deep, belly laugh. “Amazeballs? I don’t think I’ve ever been called that before.”

“Oh, and you have been told that you have a supercock amongst mere mortals,” she deadpanned.

“At least twice,” he bantered back without missing a beat. “Let me get cleaned up before we have a mess to deal with.”

Emma moved a bit, letting him slip from her and then sat up. She climbed down the ladder first, and Killian followed behind. “Hold on, I brought something for you.” Emma dug in the pile of things she’d dropped after her shower. She found a washcloth she’d gotten wet and brought back for exactly this reason and handed it over to Killian. “It’s a little cold now, but it’s better than tissues that will make your cock look like it was tarred and feathered.”

“Well, now who’s the prepared boy scout?”

“Oh, I know there is nothing boyish about any of this.” Emma gestured to her whole body cockily before grabbing the second washcloth to clean herself.

It was almost four in the morning when they finally climbed into the lower bunk, both exhausted by the long day and night, it was nearing dawn and all either wanted to do was get some sleep.

“Good night, love.” Killian placed a kiss to her temple, wrapping her up in his arms.

“Night,” she murmured after pecking his lips. Good night kisses and snuggles? She didn’t even recognize this Emma Swan. She was too tired to freak out over the domesticity that was going on right now, and more than that, she kind of like it.

Despite waking up several times, Emma had never slept so soundly as she did over the next eight hours. Each time she woke she was still securely snuggled in the arms that held more comfort and joy than she’d ever known. And each time that thought crossed her sleepy mind, she pushed it away in favor of just being. Everything about this experience was new to her, and she found that she wanted to enjoy every moment. The steady rhythm of the train and the happiness in her heart lulled her back to sleep each time.

Killian could have woken much sooner, but each time he realized that this enigmatic woman was still comfortably wrapped up in his embrace he decided to stay put. Emma had sailed unexpectedly into his life, and he could not be more enthralled by her than he currently felt. He wanted to know more, he wanted to know everything about her.

The moment they realized the other was awake, they were back on each other, their need to take, and be taken, insatiable. It started off slow and sweet, as they kissed and touched their way back into full wakefulness.

~♥~

Emma stretched her body, enjoying the sated feeling that inundated her entire being. Looking at her phone, she realized why she was so hungry. They’d slept away half the day and had now spent the remainder partaking in some rather rigorous activities. Emma had even let him have that which she’d promised, she was no tease, though she was more than a little sore.

A smile commanded her face as she pulled on her panties and bra. She chuckled under her breath remembering the way he’d choked last night when she’d suggested it. Then there was the gobsmacked expression on his face when she’d actually offered her ass to him this afternoon as she looked over her shoulder, telling him, all aboard.

Killian watched her from the comfort of their still warm bed. A beatific smile encompassed her face and she was glowing. He hoped he was the cause of this change.

“Get dressed, I’ll take you to dinner. My treat since I won big last night.”

“Wherever shall we go?”

“Hmmmm.” Emma tapped her chin as though she were deep in thought. “I know! Let’s go to the dining cart.”

They both chuckled at their own silliness while getting dressed.

“After you, darling,” Killian said as he held the door to the hall open.

“You just want to look at my ass while we walk.”

“Aye, so?”

“What if I wanted to look at your ass?”

“Well then,” Killian said as he took her hand in his and pulled her behind him to walk to dinner, “look your fill, Swan.”

Emma chuckled at the way he sashayed his hips, even going so far as to put a hand on his hip and throw her a coy smile over his shoulders.

They sat down at a small two top in the dining cart and perused the menu quietly. Each had a little more on their mind than just the food choices, but neither knew how to break the ice. Killian wanted to know more about this enigmatic woman. Where was she going, why was she running, did she feel any of the connection he felt to her, outside of the obvious sexual chemistry? Would they really never see each other again after Chicago?

Emma found herself enjoying Killian’s company more by the minute. She’d never met another soul who she’d hit it off with quite like this, and she didn’t just mean sexually. Of course she would chalk up their quick rapport to the fact that there was no end game to worry about, just a final destination where they’d go their separate ways.

“Let’s play a game,” Killian suggested once they’d made their orders.

Emma saw the spark in Killian’s eyes as he asked the question, like he knew he was on thin ice, but he was going to walk that line anyway. “What kind of game?”

“Just a simple game of Q & A.”

Emma felt her shoulders tense up as she looked into his engaging expression. His eyebrow cocked, he was all cheshire grin and roguish charm, as if she shouldn’t have a care in the world about his obvious challenge. “I don’t know…”

“There’s a catch, to keep it from getting too out of hand. You can only ask a question that you will answer first.” Killian noticed the moment Emma relented, her shoulders visibly loosening up, and a small smile catching her lips. “C’mon, I’ll start, how old are you Emma Swan? I am thirty.”

“I’m twenty-eight, old man.”

“As you can see, I’ve maintained my youthful glow. Your turn.”

Emma sat silently thinking about another question she could ask that she also wouldn’t mind answering. “What do you do for a living? I’m a cop.” She knew that technically she had just quit her job, but she planned to go into the same line of work once she arrived back home.

“I own a shipping business with my brother, Liam. We are based out of England, I run that side. When we expanded to the eastern seaboard of United States six years ago, my brother and his wife were the ones to come out here to set up shop, and now they are ready to go home. Since I’ve no attachments left in England, the logical play is for me to come here and take his place, so he and Elsa can go home.”

Emma didn’t fail to see the bitterness that colored his tone when he spoke of being unattached. She also noticed just how much he’d expounded on his answer; she only hoped he didn’t expect the same.

“So, since I just answered this anyway, what takes you toward the east coast?”

“That’s cheating!”

Killian grasped at his chest, “You wound me, Swan. I was merely killing two birds with one stone!”

Emma huffed with displeasure as she signaled the server to order another drink. “Well, if you must know, I too have a brother and am headed home for a visit.”

“So you are headed to the east coast!” Killian was practically glowing, his smile was so wide.

“What? Oh! You cheater, your shipping business is probably run by pirates.” Emma clenched her fists on top of the table. She hated being bested! Killian had only known she was headed to Chicago in the midwest, yet he’d outsmarted her with the assumptive question.

Killian just sat preening under his victory and let Emma huff and puff. With any luck her frustration would make it easier to learn more about her.

The waiter came back with their drinks, and Emma immediately ordered two more. “Alright, pirate,” she muttered before tossing back her double, “you’re on.”

They played through dinner, eating, drinking, and laughing. Emma learned that Killian and his brother bicker a lot, but they love each other deeply, his favorite sport is football, surprise, surprise - the American kind. He wanted to be in a boy band as a child, he plays the piano and guitar, and sings, his favorite cuisine is Italian, and he is not a butt or breast man because he is a fan of every part of her… Good one, Jones, she’d told him.

Killian learned that Emma and her brother get along great and like himself, she gets along famously with her sister-in-law, her favorite sport is also American football, and she had always wanted to go into law enforcement so she could catch all the bad guys. She loved to sing in the shower, did not play any instruments, her favorite food is grilled cheese and onion rings, and she does not have a preferred feature on a man, but does prefer dark hair and scruff. He’d lit up like a firework at that answer.

Emma was a little more loose lipped as they finished their third drink and started in on a triple layer chocolate cake with raspberry drizzle. “Why are you unattached?” she asked around a mouthful of the chocolate confection.

“You have to answer first, love, and if you do, so too shall I.”

Emma rolled her eyes at his flowery phrasing. “I’m unattached because men are assholes.”

“I’m afraid that’s a bit too vague, unless you’d like me to be just as obscure?”

“Ugh, fine.” She thought on how in depth to go and decided to go for broke. Nothing like a little honesty to see if her track record would remain the same. “I’m unattached because my most recent ex slept with our former boss so he could get a promotion we were both eligible for. The ex before that left me during a pregnancy scare, and prior to that, at the start of my bad decisions in a long line of bad decisions was ten years ago when I ran away from the only home and family I had ever known to follow a boy. He left me for someone else after two years, he’d been seeing her behind my back for almost the whole time. Guess I was too caught up in work to notice.”

“Don’t do that, love. Don’t accept someone else’s mistakes as your own. He fucked up, not you, and he’s a bloody idiot for letting someone like you go. They all were.”

Emma could feel the blush along her cheeks, she didn’t exactly know what ‘someone like you’ meant, but she knew he meant it as a compliment. And even though she knew Killian was right about where to lay blame, it was an old habit of a foster kid who couldn’t figure out who else could be to blame but herself, each time things didn't work out with a family.

“Where did you go, Swan?”

At some point during her reverie Killian had reached across the table top to hold her hand. She shook her head to clear the old hurt. “Just thinking about why I do that… you know, blame myself.”

“And?”

“Well that is another question, and I believe it is your turn to answer.”

“Ah, right you are. I am unattached because from the time I started working, I buried myself in the business. I was a bitter young man, angry at my father for his treatment of my mother and subsequent abandonment of our family, and disheartened that my mother died too young. I had no desire to partake in true love. Sure I scratched the occasional itch, but I was never serious about relationships. I met a woman several years ago who made me see more of what life had to offer. We fell in love, or I at least I did. Turns out she was married to a man several years older than herself and she’d become a bored wife. She was slightly older than me, and I became her boy toy. She told me for a long time that she would leave him, and I let her string me along. The catalyst for our separation was finding out that she had a child. I couldn’t knowingly stay in the picture when there was a child who had a mother and father and the only thing standing in the way of his world remaining intact was me. I couldn’t destroy a family as my father had, so I broke it off. I am better off for knowing her, she opened my eyes to the world around me, and after the initial hurt wore off I feel like I have come out a better man.”

Emma squeezed his hand, but instead of apologizing for his bad experience, she softly said, “We know how to pick ‘em.”

“You say that sarcastically, lass, but we are sitting here together. That’s got to count for something.”

“Your turn,” she said, trying not to smile too big, because it did feel like it counted for something.

“You know what I’m going to ask. You set yourself up for it.”

Emma feigned ignorance, shaking her head and quirking her eyebrow. If he wanted to know, the rules were going to change a little bit.

“All right, your stubbornness, why do you blame yourself for other people’s mistakes?”

Killian knew he’d made a mistake when Emma grinned like a murderer who’d just been acquitted and could never be tried again. Somehow he had stepped into a trap. He waited anxiously for the punchline.

“Well, since you can’t answer that particular question, I will answer, if and only if I get to ask you any question I want at a time of my choosing, without having to answer it myself,” Emma said.

Killian narrowed his eyes at her. It would seem she had bested him. But what else could she ask that he wasn’t willing to tell her? They’d talked about Liam, Father, his ex; there wasn’t much else to tell.

“Do we have an accord?” she asked.

“Aye, love, we have an accord.”

“Let’s go back to the room for this one. I don’t tell this story often, when I do I don’t like to tell it in front of a room full of strangers.” Emma stood up, and since they were still holding hands she pulled him up with her. “You can look at my ass this time.”

~♥~

Emma had put off her answer for as long as she could. She’d wondered just how in depth she’d go when telling Killian about her past, as she changed into one of his t-shirts and pulled her hair back into a low ponytail. Now sitting perched in his lap as they sat together in the recliner, unless she used her powers of persuasion for sex, she’d need to answer. She felt rather protected wrapped in his arms, curled in on herself, like she could get through this story without breaking apart.

“You don’t have to tell me, you know,” he whispered.

“I know.” Emma wrapped his arm around her middle a little tighter and laced their fingers together, snuggling into his hold. “I am choosing to give you the real answer on why I blame myself for how others see and treat me. I haven’t told this story to many and I only ask one thing… no pity.”

Killian brought their joined hands over his heart, “I promise.”

“I was abandoned at birth, found on the side of a road.” Emma stopped to clear her throat, her voice a little hoarse around the bubble that always formed in her throat when she talked about childhood. It wasn’t that she still felt bad for herself, she just hated the way the system had failed in her case. It broke her heart that it was still happening to orphans across the country.

“I was an orphan most of my childhood. I don’t know everything about the beginning, but I know the parts my adoptive mother told me. When I was found on the side of the road, I was brought to the local hospital. There was a nurse who cared for me and petitioned to adopt me before I went into the system. Her name was Ruth Nolan, and her petition was denied because she was a single mother with a child of her own, and only had a single income. I went into the foster system, and for the next year and a half I lived with a foster family. At almost two I was approved to be adopted by the Swan family, and they named me Emma Swan. Other than being told that tidbit of information, I don’t have any memories of them. On our way home from the final adoption hearing, which had come after a six month adoption process, they were killed in a car crash. My car seat was thrown from the car and I didn’t suffer a single injury.

“I was brought into the same hospital to be checked out, and Ruth Nolan again petitioned for adoption and was denied for the same reasons. The next two years were a mix of different foster homes. When I was four, I was adopted by another family, I remember them well, I lived with them for a little over three horrible years. During that time we moved to Phoenix, Arizona where my adoptive father had invested everything into a business that never took off, it took a toll on him and he started drinking. He’d always been verbally abusive, but he became physically abusive with the drink in hand, and after beating the shit out of my adoptive mother one too many times, he was finally arrested and put behind bars. She tried to take care of me for a time, but she had started drinking heavily too, and by the time I was eight I had missed more than half the third grade and we were living in her car. Social services got involved and I was taken away. They’d given me the choice to stay in Phoenix or go back to my place of birth, but I refused to talk. Either way I was being put back into foster care. After another three years of bouncing from home to home, getting kicked out for fighting, stealing, or just being as nasty and mean as I could be to anyone who got too close, I ran away.

“When I was caught two states away and authorities looked into who I was, they decided to send me back to where I was born, Maine. Once more I was taken to that same hospital, and wouldn't you know it, that same nurse was there. I was eleven by that time, and she tried again to adopt me, but again the powers that be decided she was not fit to adopt me with just one income and no spouse. What a crock of shit. Not many people are looking for moody preteens to take home and call their own, so I was sent to a local group home. It was probably the best thing for me. No one tried to be a mommy or a daddy, no one tried getting close.

“Every week Ruth and her son David would come to visit me in the group home. I still don’t know why she cared so much…” Emma sniffed at the memory of the woman who changed her life. Her head ached, maybe a little from the drinks, but mostly from trying to hold the tears at bay. “She was the first person I let into my heart, the first person I remember who chose to care about me. She petitioned for adoption seven times before a judge finally realized I was spending more time at her house than I was at the group home anyway. That or the adoption agency got tired of processing the same paperwork over and over, or maybe they realized she was more stubborn than they were. I was fourteen and a half when I officially moved in with the Nolan’s. Ruth was my savior, and my brother David is the best brother a girl could have. I had three wonderful years with Ruth before she passed.”

“What happened?”

“Brain aneurysm, it was so sudden.” She’d gone further into her story than she’d anticipated, and choked back a sob as she remembered the end of the best years of her life.

Killian felt the jolt in Emma’s body as she tried to hold back the pain. He tried not to, but how could he not feel some sort of sorrow for the life she’d been dealt? He’d promised no pity though, and he was a man of his word. Instead of offering any words, he just held her tighter, running a hand up and down her back and pressing soft kisses into her hair.

“I kind of spun out of control after her death. David was away at college when it happened, he and his high school sweetheart came home for the funeral. After they left to go back to college, I was right back where I’d always been, alone. I felt like happiness just wasn’t in the cards for me. I found a guy who treated me like nothing special, we were two fucked up peas in a pod, I followed him to the west coast for a new start, and now we’ve come full circle.”

“Thank you for sharing your story with me, Emma.”

“No pity, you promised.”

“No pity, love. I just want you to know I’ve never met such a tough lass. I admire you, Emma. You’re smart, fierce, strong, passionate, kind, all things you instilled in yourself, long before Ruth was allowed to care for you. And here you are, on your way to a new beginning. Not many are brave enough to start anew with little more than their closest possessions and hope.”

“Hope,” Emma snorted. “You sound like Mary Margaret.”

Killian cocked an eyebrow. “Who is this Mary Margaret?”

“She is a peddler of hope.”

“Hope isn’t a bad thing.”

Emma knew he was absolutely right; Mary Margaret would have said the same thing, and she would have been right too. But she found that she actually believed it when Killian said it. She felt a tiny blossom of hope sprouting in her heart and it simultaneously hurt and soothed her soul. She didn’t realize a tear had fallen until she heard Killian whispering to her not to cry.

He felt the tear hit his bare chest and his heart squeezed for this brilliant woman who had been through enough tragedy and neglect for two lifetimes. “Don’t cry, lass.”

Emma looked up, shedding several more tears even as he spoke the words. “Then help me clear my mind.” She turned and straddled his lap, leaned into him and kissed his lips. “Make me forget.”

“Never forget where you’ve come from, it makes you who you are. I like who you are, Swan.” Killian murmured the heartfelt words against her salty, tear stained lips, kissing her between each few words. He’d help her to clear her mind, but he wouldn’t ever want to change a single thing about her.

Kissing him breathless, Emma ground her hips against his, desperate to connect with him on that earth shattering level, the level she understood. She was loath to admit it, but this was the closest she’d felt to anyone in a long time, and it wasn’t just physical anymore. “Make love to me Killian.”

His breath caught in his throat as Emma whispered those intimate words into his ear. He had a feeling Emma Swan wasn’t in the habit of making love, and he was over the moon that she wanted him to make love to her. “As you wish.” Killian crashed his lips to hers once more and secured her in his grasp, hoping to convey just how passionately he wanted to care for her needs.

Princess Bride, Westley, she thought. That was one of her favorite movies of all time, combining all the perfect elements of an adventurous, love story. She shivered as she realized she wouldn’t even mind if he meant exactly what Westley had meant each time he’d uttered the words as you wish to Buttercup. Who am I and where is the real Emma Swan? She whimpered into the kiss as his hands ghosted up her sides until he was cupping both her breasts and stroking his thumbs over her nipples.

Releasing her breasts and chuckling when she huffed at the loss, he tapped her butt and told her to sit up. “Don’t go,” he corrected when she lifted from his lap and started to step away. “Just let me get rid of these pesky trousers.”

Emma placed her knee back down and lifted up, watching as Killian unbuttoned his pants and slid them down his thighs. He was already hard, and her mouth watered as she debated taking him with her mouth again. Part of her wanted that control right now, but the more dominant part truly did want him to make love to her, to take her slowly and lovingly.

He used his feet to slide his pants off the rest of the way, and coaxed Emma to sit back down so she was straddling him once more. The feel of skin against skin, warm and soft was heavenly; no friction yet, just touching. Killian firmly grasped her hip with one hand, rolling his thumb over her hip bone, while his other hand was drawn to her face. Staring into her eyes, trying to read every emotion she couldn’t keep hidden, Killian traced his thumb from her chin, along her jaw, until his fingers could curl against the nape of her neck. Pulling her toward him, he placed a kiss to the corner of her mouth and worked his way across before darting his tongue out, seeking entrance. He practically purred when she sunk her fingers into his hair, pent up energy causing her fingers to dance through his locks and along his scalp.

Emma opened as his tongue licked along her lips, leaning into his body and tasting the emotion and desire behind his advances. Her breasts made contact with his chest, and his chest hair teased her to hardened peaks. She rubbed up against him seeking more than the delicate touch. She hummed contentedly as his mouth left hers and he kissed his way down her jaw, behind her ear, and finally to her neck. Her clit ached and her core clenched as he sucked and nipped at the sensitive flesh along the collar of her neck.

He let his lips travel along her neck, spending time in places where she made particularly lovely noises. Leaning forward he sucked a pebbled nipple into his mouth and was both rewarded and punished with her moans of pleasure. He worried her sounds alone might make him spill as his aching cock twitched against his stomach. Killian decided to sit back in the chair, and pulled her against his whole body, breasts back to his mouth, only this time her core met with his. It was the bit of heaven he needed as she instinctively rubbed herself along his length, spreading her warm wetness from base to tip. “Fucking hell, that feels amazing, love.”

“Mmmm, you’re so hard for me,” Emma whispered. She loved how hot and hard he got, every single time, how all the blood rushed to his cock so he was swollen, and leaking with want.

“Always.”

Despite how loaded that word was, Emma found she loved hearing it. She continued to grind up and down his length, pulling at his hair to bring his mouth back up to hers. The cool air hit her nipple as he released it, and she shivered before pressing against him, seeking the warmth of his body. “Make love to me.”

Killian planted his hands at her hips, guiding her to his tip and she slid down his length unhindered, engulfing him in her slick walls. He held her there steadfastly, savoring the sensation of her sheathing his cock. Killian released her hips in favor of smoothing his hands over her ass to grasp both cheeks.

“Oh Killian, fuck you’re so big, you feel so good.” Emma rested her forehead against his and breathed in deeply as she adjusted to the welcomed intrusion. When she felt his hands gliding over her ass and gripping her cheeks she lifted slowly, enjoying the drag of his cock along her walls. On her every downstroke he pumped his hips into hers, giving a forceful thrust at the end of each pass.

Emma rode him slowly, arms back around his neck and fingers carded through his hair. And while Killian always had one hand squeezing and kneading the flesh of her perfect behind, the other was wrapped tightly into her hair that he’d pulled loose. Their bodies rocked together, her breasts rubbed deliciously against his chest, and their lips and tongues caressed and soothed.

Despite the languid pace, each found themself nearing bliss. It wasn’t lost on Killian that the emotion tied into the evening was what was getting him there, and as much as she might want to deny it, Emma was also aware that the very real feelings were a large part of the reason her walls were already fluttering.

“Fuck!” Killian cursed and his whole body jerked. He broke the kiss and stared wide eyed at Emma. “I’m so sorry, love.”

Emma just smiled; she already knew what he was going to say. She didn’t even skip a beat, just kept her pace as she rode him. “It’s okay, I’m on birth control, it’s been awhile for me, so I know I’m clean. And... I trust you.”

“I swear, I am clean.” He reach a hand toward the table and scrambled for a condom.

“I believe you, no condoms.” Emma grinned a little smug smile at him before closing the distance between them. She sucked his ear into her mouth and bit down softly, enjoying the growl the action elicited. “I am so close, Killian,” she whispered hotly into his ear. “How about I come all over your bare cock this time?” She pulled her head back to see the affect her words had on him.

He was stunned to silence and starry eyed as he watched her ride him, the telltale signs of her climax clear in the slight increase in the stroke of her hips, the tightening of her walls, and the slackening of her mouth. Where the panic of forgetting the condom had briefly pulled him from the moment, her words and the anticipation of feeling her wet pulsing grip without the barrier brought him sprinting back toward the finish line. Killian pulled her mouth to his once more, and somehow he knew Emma felt the same thing - the need to be connected in that final way.

Emma had never experienced a speechless version of this man, and it was quite breathtaking as he still communicated with her, showing her everything she needed to know with the way he watched her, saw her, and then kissed her through the most soothing and sating orgasms she’d ever experienced. Her walls clenched hard around his cock, and she moaned quietly into his kisses, little yeses and his name falling from her lips.

“Emma,” he rasped, clutching at her hips as he thrust into her a final time, releasing all he had to give deep inside her spasming walls. They broke the kiss to recover breathing, arms holding fast to each other, resting forehead to forehead. “That was…”

“I know,” Emma said when he couldn't quite put into words what they’d just experienced. It was different, it was... special, she finished silently.

Later, as they drifted off to sleep wrapped in the others’ arms, each found they had new hope sparking their hearts. Killian wondered if the possibility of real, true love did exist for him; perhaps his heart wasn’t as jaded as he’d thought. And Emma wondered if home wasn’t a place, but a person, as she reveled in the unfamiliar feelings Killian Jones was stirring in her heart.

~♥~

They’d showered and packed up shortly before pulling into Union Station since they both had a train change to move on to their next destinations. After dressing as warmly as they could and stowing their luggage in the train terminal locker station they’d decided to make one last outing together. They sat quietly at the small cafe, each picking at their late lunch. Their little game of Q&A had continued throughout the remaining hours of their trip, and they’d gleaned more little pieces of the other. Now that their time was coming closer to the end, each was stuck in a quandary.

Killian wanted to know where she was headed to next, wanted her to stay with him, even just one more night, and was having a hard time keeping those thoughts to himself. He was nothing if not well spoken, he knew exactly what he wanted to say, but he also knew Emma didn’t necessarily want to hear what he had to say. He’d found himself staring at her longingly more than once. Her reaction was a mix between a blush and a smile and sheer panic.

Emma wanted more with Killian Jones. More time, more of his body, more of his conversation and breathtaking smiles, she wanted things she hadn’t wanted with anyone in a really long time, things she didn’t think she’d ever want again. What she did not want was to admit any of that to herself, let alone to the man who sat looking at her like she was his end all, be all. “If you look at me any harder, you’re going to drill a hole in my head.”

Killian chuckled, but didn’t break his eye contact. “Just thinking about what comes next, Swan.”

Though her heart picked up an extra forty beats per minute, she remained outwardly calm. Doing what she does best, Emma Swan avoided the actual question behind his words like a pro. “Well my next train isn’t until this evening, so I guess we could find something to do here in the Windy City.”

Placing both his hands on the table palms up, he relented to her avoidance. “Let’s make the best of the time we have left then. Care to go ice skating?”

“That sounds fun!” Emma placed both her hands into his waiting ones, knowing she had successfully turned the tables in her direction for now. Standing up and pulling him up too, Emma placed a chaste kiss to his lips. “Lead the way.”

Killian pointed behind her to the small outdoor ice pond that he’d seen when they first arrived at the restaurant.

They settled the bill after arguing over who would pay. Emma won the debate as she threatened to not go ice skating if he wouldn’t let her pay. She argued that she couldn’t let him pay when she wasn’t even paying for her train fare anymore, and she’d won in Winnemucca.

“Perfect,” she exclaimed after lacing up her skates and stepping onto the ice.

“Almost like it was meant to be,” he murmured.

Emma caught his words but chose not to comment. “I haven’t been ice skating since before Ruth passed. We made a tradition of ice skating and hot cocoa at the local pond back home each year. We would go every Christmas Eve eve.”

Killian grasped her hand in his and they started their way around the ice rink. “That’s a lovely tradition, Swan. Why Christmas Eve eve?”

“On Christmas Eve itself we would always volunteer at the local soup kitchen. Ruth and David had been going every year since he was old enough to help, and I jumped at the chance to payback even a fraction of the gift she bestowed upon me. Do you have any traditions?”

“Not in many years. Although this year I am told I’m going with my brother and his wife to give back to society on Christmas Eve.”

“I’m sure my brother and his wife still go to the soup kitchen, so I guess we will both be giving back to society on Christmas Eve.” Emma smiled serenely as comforting thoughts of family and tradition flooded her. Suddenly she couldn’t remember why she’d stayed away so long, and she felt a little ashamed. A stray thought flitted through her mind that she wouldn’t have met Killian Jones if she’d decided to go home any earlier. As quickly as the thought arose she shooed it away.

A sudden image of Emma working to feed the less fortunate popped into his mind, and he was right beside her. He could see the white apron tied around her, hair pulled back and that same contented smile on her lips. His eyes watered and his throat tightened as he shook the images that would never be a reality from his thoughts. What has this woman done to me, he lamented. He was seeing a future, and the word love ricocheted around his brain.

One moment they were looking into each other’s eyes as the world around them stood still, while they floated across the ice with the overwhelming urge to make grand declarations, and the next they were staring up at the sky. A fit of giggles took over Emma’s body as Killian groaned beneath her, because of course when they’d fallen he’d saved her by taking the brunt of the hard ice impact.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“Aye, just a bruised tailbone and ego.”

“It would take so much more for that inflated ego to bruise,” she teased him.

Killian laughed loudly at that, threading his fingers through her hair, he brought her face to his and kissed her soundly.

Emma kissed him back, and her heart swelled painfully in her chest as she realized his kisses were slowly coming to an end. “Damn wind,” she muttered as her eyes watered. She swiped at the tears she was going to swear were the result of the icy wind as it swept over them.

Killian hadn’t even noticed the weather around them as he was so consumed by her. When he looked around he realized a light snow had started to fall. Emma looked even more beautiful with her wind grazed pink cheeks and snowflakes sticking to her hair and eyelashes. He fought against the words asking her to stay with him, because he knew it would ruin everything.

“Mommy, are they hurt?” a little voice questioned from behind them.

They both chuckled as they realized they were making spectacles of themselves. Emma heaved herself off of Killian and they helped each other to stand up. They stood facing each other, Killian cocked an eyebrow as if he wished to say something, but no words left his mouth.

“Race ya!” Emma shouted as she let go of his hands and took off as fast as she could. She was a damned chicken, but she couldn’t risk hearing the words that were locked behind that loving look he had been giving her.

“Now who’s cheating?” he called behind her. He’d been saved by her self preservation. Taking long strides Killian quickly caught up to her and swatted her ass. He passed her and then turned so he was skating backwards. “Cheaters never win, Swan,” he taunted.

Emma rolled her eyes and sped up her pace as she pushed off the ice harder. They hurdled toward the side of the rink, each determined to best the other. “Tie,” she shouted as they reached the end of the ice.

“All right, I’ll give you a tie,” he conceded.

“What do you mean, give me?” Emma slapped his chest. “It was totally a tie!”

Killian laughed loudly at the competitive streak in Emma Swan as he led her over to a bench. They took off their skates and Killian offered to take hers back. Emma let herself get lost in thoughts of the past couple days; this was the happiest she’d been in years. She truly was at a loss as she wondered if it was all due to the hot Brit who’d taken up residence in her life, or if it was the clean start she was making. She was interrupted by the very savory smell of hot chocolate when Killian returned with two of the beverages in hand.

“Cinnamon?” Emma asked incredulously.

“Aye, it’s the way my sister-in-law drinks it, and swears it’s the best way to have it. I can get you a new one if you don’t like it.”

“No way!” She pulled the styrofoam cup out of his reach as he grabbed for it. “Your sister-in-law is absolutely correct. I was just shocked because I thought you guessed how I like it. That was a Ruth Nolan secret topping for cocoa.”

“I guess it’s not so secret anymore,” he chuckled as he sipped his own drink.

“Guess not.” Emma giggled when he pulled his cup away and had a little whipped cream mustache. Instead of wiping it away, she leaned up to kiss it from his lips. “You taste good.”

“As do you, love.” He wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her close to kiss her more firmly.

“Let’s take a picture,” Emma suggested. She pulled her phone out and held it at arm’s length.

Killian snuggled up next to her so they were cheek to cheek and smiled for the camera. Once she had snapped a shot, he kissed her on the cheek and rested his forehead to her temple, unaware that she was still snapping pictures. “Send me the picture, love?” He knew it was a long shot - that would require exchanging information.

A moment later he got an AirDrop notification and ten new photos awaited his approval. He accepted them, and decided to take a chance. After Emma put her phone away, he AirDropped his contact information to her, then swooped her up into another passionate kiss to distract her from the notification.

They walked hand in hand back to the station as the hour of departure grew nearer. A comfortable but somber silence had set in as each fretted over the coming separation. Killian pulled his bag out of the locker, set it down beside him and pulled Emma’s duffel bag out, handing it over to her. When she reached to take it, he grabbed her hand with his. “Don’t go, Swan.”

“Killian don’t,” she whispered, “don’t make this more difficult than it already is.”

“It doesn’t have to be difficult. Just don’t go.”

“I have to go, Killian. I’m going home to start over.”

“Then tell me where that is. We are both headed to the east coast, perhaps we’ll be closer than we think.”

“To Chicago,” she murmured. “You said to Chicago, nothing more.”

“Well what if I want more, what if you want more?”

Emma wanted to tell him she didn’t want more, but she couldn’t lie to him. She’d never had an issue lying to someone before to avoid messy feelings, but as he stood there looking at her with clear tenderness and devotion, she just couldn’t make her lips form the words. Leaning into his body she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Emma poured everything she felt but would never say, into that kiss. “I’m sorry...” she whispered against his lips.

Killian’s spirits lifted as she conveyed her true feelings into their kiss. He heard her apology and wanted to tell her there was nothing to apologize for since she was back in his arms. Before he could speak though, she’d broken from their embrace.

“...but I can’t take the chance that I’m wrong about you.” Inhaling deeply against the vice like squeeze in her chest, she squared her shoulders, prayed her voice wouldn’t crack with the sobs that were mere seconds from spilling forth and looked him in the eye. “Goodbye, Killian.” Her prayer went unanswered as one sob escaped with her final words.

And before he could make another plea, she turned and fled. “Goodbye, Emma,” he whispered brokenly.

Tagging those who showed interest in part two, or reblogged the first chapter. If you don’t want me tagging you please let me know! @xhookswenchx @teamhook @xemmaloveskillianx @laschatzi @kmomof4 @branlovestowrite @resident-of-storybrooke @rubyrose82 @deathbycaptainswan @hollyethecurious @winterbaby89 @roseyflush @delightfully-difficult-pirate @effulgentcolors @captainswan-shipper88

#cs ff #cs fanfic #cs au #cs smut #captain swan

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ghostmartyr · 6 years ago

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Pokémon Black 2 Randomized Nuzlocke Run [Part 7]

It is time for badge number seven.

Lesgo.

Vertex (Luxray)

Caspet (Gengar)

Nessy (Milotic)

Diego (Gardevoir)

Photon (Rayquaza)

Cerberus (Dodrio)

Squad goals.

Why won’t Unova Gyms ever just let me leave?

And apparently I’m not going through Twist Mountain? I’m getting a lift on a plane?

If that’s the case, that’s happening later. I think I’m going to get Cerberus up to level 40 in the sad death tower before I do anything else. I don’t want to have members of my team lagging consistently. You will all be useful. I will make it happen.

Also, something I haven’t mentioned yet (...I think, it’s been a while to get this far) is that Pokemon Breeders in this gen seem to be available to fight every single time you enter that route. Not like you can fight them if you want. After beating them, if you leave and go back to the route, they will do the exclamation point thing.

This is annoying.

Route 7, also known as that place before the sad death tower, has one.

It is not irritating enough to conjure up hate for. And yet.

Flash forward into the future a bit later, and we have a team where everyone’s above or at 40 except for... Photon. Photon, my friend, we’re just gonna slap the Exp. Share on you and continue with the plot. Your legendary status means me stacking the deck with levels is less important.

I can’t believe this place has a purpose in this game. Or that I get to fly in a plane (I assume, my memory on the sequel games is even worse than my memory for Black and White starting out). There’s something weird about using a plane to get around in a Pokemon game. Doesn’t feel natural.

Oh well, too bad so sad.

...Lentimas Town.

I have no memory of this place.

Hey, Bianca’s coming with us! Yay!

I really have no memory of this place, but there’s some Fire pokemon in Reversal Mountain, apparently, and also Professor Juniper reminds everyone that Black and White happened, so it makes no sense for Team Plasma to be trying to wake up a dragon; they’re all accounted for after all.

My exploits from last game mattered, you guys. They really did happen.

No, but I’m easy to please. Any time the games reference games that happened in the past for the current game, I am made a happy camper. Us and N catching a legendary dragon each is a good thing to keep in continuity.

I’m starting to maybe remember this place... maybe?

I guess we don’t stay here long, so time to not really care. I do continue to like how the setting is not an exact copy of the previous games, though. There’s a lot of repetition that comes from this being a sequel, but everything’s been thought out well enough that it really does feel like a new journey.

Now see, my question is if there’s a cave to this Reversal Mountain, and is it marked with a different title. I’m catching something very soon, but do I have the option of picking between outside Reversal Mountain and inside, or do I... perchance... get both?

It’s probably just one and I should just march into the grass.

I don’t wanna.

Ah, but it looks like I have to step through grass anyway. But there is the option of dark grass vs. normal grass.

I am too battle-weary and scarred. Normal grass.

!!!! A Normal pokemon for the normal grass! Hi Miltank! Let us be the best of friends and not roll each other into death. Photon’s the best bet for not accidentally killing the little lady (I did not check this with numbers and have no plans to).

Only while I was typing, Miltank used Bide, and I missed that, so Nessy with her excellent HP had to go out and deal with the consequences of Photon’s one attack. Nessy and Twister are taking Miltank down at a safe rate. She’s in the orange, so throwing time.

While she’s using Rollout.

Of course.

Hey, first ball! We’re Pokemon Going over here!

Her name is Bessy. Because it is.

But whoops, I need to head back to the Pokemon Center for a hot second and get her out of the Graves box. You’re not dead yet, darling.

Dark grass has Luxio.

It also leads to a strange house instead of fun cave time.

See, right there in the title. Can has pokemon?

Coool. Want to join my gang?

Nessy and Twister seem to be an okay catching combo. Let’s see if we can get it working twice in a row.

Damn it, Nessy. Your first one left him in the green. The green. Sigh.

Farewell, unnamed shark friend.

(he woulda been bruce)

Ahoy random Gigalith in the upstairs of the house with the moving furniture I can’t cap because these are stills. Sadly I’m not in the mood to deal with Sturdy, so I’m going to run from those instead of harvesting them.

Awww, there’s a Castform downstairs. Plus a Spell Tag.

Then the furniture moves and clears up a doorway. Behind which is a trainer.

I feel like a lot of the NPCs we meet in these games have very hard lives. Hello Sentret in the middle of the room. Are you keeping this one company?

Ludicolo is in the front room.

Caspet learns Dark Pulse. Bye-bye, Night Shade.

Waaaaaait. Wait. Aren’t you the ghost girl from the bridge in the last games? I remember you! Is this where you get something to do instead of just being odd? Note that it doesn’t count if it’s an event thing that needs a code or internet or special event items!

She’s looking for her parents.

And her Abra.

....Then a wild Abra shows up.

Is that scripted, or did the Randomizer just give me an amazing gift?

Weepinbell back downstairs.

I go through another door, and get a Full Heal for my trouble. With added wild Octillery. Fuck you, Octillery. You are banned from all my runs forever.

Ooooo wild Haxorus. Look at all these things I can’t have. Downstairs has a stray Riolu. The trouble I go through for a... Dusk Stone. Yeah, okay, that’s nice to have. Toxicroak is also here.

Then back upstairs, suddenly Gible. What’s this place usually supposed to have?

The second floor’s chairs have moved, so I go through one of the upstairs doors. Another trainer room. Yay. With a Mr. Mime. Yay.

I’m really sorry about your life/undeath, NPC Ghost Girl.

Oh, neat. Lunar Wing.

I have no memory of which legendary that belongs to. I want to guess Cresselia, but I don’t know if it’s even in this game. I do know it’s a gen four legendary, which would make sense for the sidequest feel of this house.

Oh wait it doesn’t matter because Randomized Nuzlocke.

...Well fine, but I’d still like to know.

That makes me feel surprisingly sad.

One last door to check out. Empty but for Golett (want) and a Rare Candy. Time to leave.

Back outside there’s an Exeggcute I wouldn’t have wanted. The normal grass has Whismur.

There was a cave after all. Ugh. I can’t believe this counts as the same route as outside. Cave and grass should get to be different.

Heeey! Bianca! Wait, before we team up and I abuse your healing for exp, I need to check the other side of the cave.

Oh. The other side of the cave has a Max Repel and that’s it. Back to Bianca, I guess. And she’s psyched for Heatran, which is a very relatable feel.

Zoroark and Tangrowth for the first encounter of the cave. I say, pretending it matters. Stoutland can also be found here. Knowing their propensity for knowing Crunch, I think maybe something not Caspet can be in the front. Photon, gain your own exp for a change.

Crawdaunt is another feature. It’s a dark, Dark cave.

I was checking to see if Cerberus can learn Acrobatics. No, but he can learn Fly. You know, that classic Dodrio usage. Fly. Which he is absolutely learning.

Aww, a wild Togepi. It’s gone now.

I love getting to wander with someone who handles the healing. It’s so nice battling without stress. Also known as grinding without needing to use up items.

Haa. See, normally you’d be right, but.

Huh. There’s a Magikarp and a Weedle through a different passage. Neat. You will not be missed. Then we come across a bizarrely gen-appropriate pair of Tympole.

Can Triple Battles not be a thing? I don’t care for them. They make me worry. Arguably I could help myself by arranging my team so I would have a good comp for whenever I fell into one, but where would the fun in that sane choice be.

Dust clouds come with Munchlax. Neato.

We’re in a legendary’s nest. They’re all like this.

...Why can you find Luxray and Ninjask here???

Ditto for Steelix and Porygon. Yay for Randomizer randomizing every single room of an area. It’s cool, but in the larger places it can be really disorienting. A male Nidoran also says hello.

I don’t know where to find the Magma Stone to get Heatran, so we’re done with Reversal Mountain, I believe. Geez I hope that’s the name of this place. I’m too lazy to check at the moment.

I have escaped!

And found a Shiny Stone. Win.

I didn’t recognize this place, then I remembered. Water. Bay. Post-game trauma. They messed with the map to keep things interesting.

What.

My curiosity is piqued.

But I want to get something random in the waves before I investigate.

Um.

Well this is awkward.

Level 39.

Photon should not be out front for this. Nessy?

Okay. Nessy gets Regice in the red. Regice knows Curse and Ancient Power. I do have a Master Ball. I can’t deny that I’m seriously tempted by it, but we’re going to try doing this like a standard trainer first.

Net Ball doesn’t work because of course it doesn’t (I just wanted to use it because Surfing), and Regice knows Superpower. Ah yes, the Regis and their. Stuff. First Ultra Ball doesn’t get anywhere. Same for second. Icy Wind is Regice’s last move.

My team has no Fire or Fighting on it. I miss having those options.

Have I been able to buy Timer Balls anywhere? Those would be nice to have right about now, as my Ultra Ball supply dwindles.

I am out of Ultra Balls.

Look, Pokemon Go legendary catching can be rough. You only get so many balls, and even if you do everything perfectly, it still might run on you.

But you don’t end up spending twenty minutes trying to catch one thing.

Seconds after I type that:

Heeeeeyo.

What do I name it, though?

Refrigerator.

That doesn’t fit.

Refriger8r.

Okay, so I have to stock up on Ultra Balls, and possibly also healing options depending on my mood when I look at the prices. Then we go see what Undella Bay and Route 14 have to offer.

The Undella Pokemon Center only has Luxury and Dive Balls. :(

My beloved Timer. Where...?

And then I bought 50 Ultra Balls.

I’m going to sell some stuff.

Okay Bay, what do you have for me?

Yeah, I can make this work.

Assuming I don’t accidentally kill it.

Thank goodness for Nessy still knowing Twister. Gottem.

His name is now Zentrotta. I think we can agree he’d be happier if I hadn’t caught him. Tragedy at its finest.

Caspet is back up front, and for now Nessy will carry the Exp. Share. She’s not had much to go up against, so she’s lagging a tad.

Aw, there’s a little Deerling on the water. Aaand it’s gone.

Hello what is this.

Indeed.

...I have questions I can’t really make myself care about enough to type.

So this guy only moves if we beat him, and before we get the chance to beat him we have to pass some game-acknowledged strength test. I probably need another badge or something. But there’s enough ground to walk back and forth, so what have you got for me, Seaside Cave?

Cool beans.

Nessy, come help not kill it.

Yay, caught.

His name is Blimperton now. Welcome to the box.

Outside, the deep water spots can be Venomoth. How pleasant.

Jelli to you too, good sir.

Huh, okay, they just give you a random Jellicent encounter here.

Game. I was just trying to speed along to the Pokemon Center. Please.

Unfezant down, Simisage down, Vertex can be in for Samurott. Level 41, so I’m. not as overleveled as I usually am except for Caspet. Caspet has reached 47 and I don’t mind her being completely overpowered.

For an update, since I think I’m pretty bad about keeping track of their levels in this: Caspet is 47, Nessy is 43, Vertex is 43, Diego is 44, Photon is 45, Cerberus is 43. Everyone is healthy and alive.

Geez I hate Triple Battles. Random trainers don’t share my feelings. This is an annoyance.

ROTATION BATTLES AREN’T THAT MUCH BETTER, OTHER RANDOM TRAINER. STOP THINKING YOU’RE SPECIAL JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE AN ACE OR A COOL OR WHATEVER THE HECK YOUR TITLE IS I DIDN’T READ IT.

And I can’t continue down through Route 14 because there’s a block of people in the way. So I guess all that’s left to do is check out what the sequel to this route has in store for me.

Last game it did not have anything I wanted.

But this time...!

Eh. I’ll catch you I guess.

Her name’s Tux now.

Meanwhile, in the dark grass...

Yep.

Wormadam, too. Such grass. Much excite.

Off up to Route 13.

New route means yet another new pokemon. ...After we fight a bunch of trainers because I care more about levels than pokemon I’m hoping to never use at the moment.

Several minutes later, the only other trainers are through grass, so let’s go!

Eyo. I don’t think I’ve had you before.

Cerberus, are you up for helping?

Well, one hit almost took half your health. So let’s say no.

Nessy!

...You know, given the amount of damage it’s doing. I think I’m going to Surf and risk fainting before it kills Nessy. Aaand... yeah. Mienshao out.

This grass also has Sandile. And Cascoon.

Nothing I have knows Cut. Languish there for all days.

That Ranger wants a Triple Battle.

Why is this route like this.

Hey, a Heatran! Bianca, guess what!

Oh so you don’t need Cut. Meh. I’m not in the mood.

Professor Juniper and Bianca say hello in town. Bianca, walk about twenty steps to the right so you can find something neat. You’ll love it, promise.

But no, it’s time to listen to an old lady talk about the Giant Chasm. I don’t wanna do that, either. I want my badges. I maybe should have taken the aquarium route to speed that along, but I don’t know if that would actually do anything.

Wait, I was spamming A. Was there a directive in there?

Hm. I sense plot ahead.

This villain understands me.

Oh cool battle time.

Russell, buddy, you run almost as much as blondie scarf from gen 4. Take a chill pill. You have won all the good big brother points you possibly could just by caring about a Purrloin this long.

So everything’s telling us to go to Opelucid. For Dragons.

Hard pass, where’s the surfer Gym? Water sounds way friendlier. I’m going to see if that one’s blocked off or not.

DAMN IT.

The janitor won’t let us pass. ;-;

Okay fine, I guess we’re heading to Opelucid. And plot, probably. The plot is of no interest to me. This is true in pretty much every single one of these games. I’m in it for the pokemon. The human with their human troubles are way less fun.

New route! What will it have for us?

I had to embrace fun when I saw one of the grass patches shaking. Our first route with a wiggly grass option! And it is...?

I’ll gladly take it!

...If I can catch it!

...Preferably without anyone dying!

I’m going to let Photon take a stab. Crunch should be super effective, but Photon doesn’t have STAB adding to it, and Metagross has rocking Defense. So this might be pathetically sad, but nothing should die.

PHOTON.

FRIEND.

NOT FOOD.

Three Ultra Balls in, I am sad.

But we get it! Huzzah!

Its name is Stormy. :)

Ouch, Caspet’s trying to learn Destiny Bond.

Caspet?

You’re not dying. This is the definition of a useless move.

What else does this here grass hold when it’s not wiggling?

ELEKID. Noooo. Why must we always pass like ships in the night... Claydol is also here.

The dark grass’ first entry is Jynx and Magikarp. Chingling is also here. Buizel too.

Cerberus has learned Drill Peck! Oh happy days!

Normal grass has Vaporeon, Huntail, and Spinda to go with what we’ve already seen.

Vertex is moving up front, and Diego is getting the Exp. Share instead of Cerberus for the time being.

Another bridge, another route.

Another set of trainers that really make me want to have a Fire type.

There’s dark grass on one side of the bridge, normal grass on the other. A pass through on my bike didn’t get anything to pop out of the dark grass, so normal grass wins the prize for this route’s catch.

Before that, there are trainer battles.

Of the Triple variety.

yay

Ooooooh. I like this. I like this a lot.

Vertex, do not murder.

Vertex follows instructions, paralyzes Vileplume, and dodges getting poisoned twice. This is why he’s allowed to live. One Ultra Ball later, and new friend acquired.

Named... Bongo.

Geez, this grass also has Mamoswine. We’re not fighting that. The water’s dark spots get Zebstrika.

Uh.

So she shoves me out.

Rude. I’m the protagonist. I go where I want.

I’m starting to rush a little since this part is getting long and I haven’t even hit the badge town, but hey! I do remember this sequence! I remembered it belonging to a different game, but A for effort, right?

Made it to Opelucid.

Since the game itself suggests via Iris to go to Route 9 first, I’m guessing I should clear up anywhere that offers trainers to fight before trying the Gym. Dragon is a pain anyway. I don’t have anything except Nessy’s Twister that’s super effective against it. I think even at the level I’m at, it should be okay, but I also think it could go incredibly badly, which I don’t want.

But before that, Route 11 didn’t force me to go through any grass, so I still have a pokemon to catch there. Let’s watch.

Huh, interesting. ...Vertex, let’s swap you out before something unfortunate happens. Though it is level 36, and he does know Crunch... Yeah, we’re going to be stupid. Magnitude 7 doesn’t do a threatening amount of damage. Yay.

She is caught, and her name shall be Winn.

Now the other side of Opelucid, after healing up.

Miltank! But we have a Miltank. Next.

I like.

Vertex. Critical hits are for trainer battles. Sigh. Farewell, Route 9. I think we could have been great together, but alas. Now to go through all the everything else to do in this route and then go finally get the seventh badge.

Hm. I think maybe I’ll just get everyone on the team up to 50, then go for it. Nice, even number.

Other things of note: I have found a Mart with Quick Balls. The world is bright. But for now, grinding. ...Against Torchic and Deerling, apparently. Maybe I want other grass. Oh, but dude. Glaceon in the dark grass. Nice. Ha, randomized and still offering super effective options outside scary gyms. Golduck and Nidorina are here, too. And Braviary and Pansage.

-winds the clock forward a few hours-

K, we’ve got folks at level 50 now. So, Drayden?

Dragons.

Cerberus is going to sit in first for a while. He’s on the fragile side, but his Attack and Speed are good, and Flying should be neutral to everything in the Gym. Same cloth as Caspet, only physical. Nessy might take over just for the comfort of tankiness, but this is where we start.

First person in the Gym has one level 46 Fraxure.

Dragons are scary.

Oh fuck you.

Fuck. That’s partially on me. If I had used Drill Peck instead of Fly, Fraxure would have been busy Dragon Dancing and would have done zero damage. But I used Fly to try to hit Fraxure hard while avoiding any of its attacks, and.

Look, the screencap’s right there.

Fuck.

Nessy’s going in, under the theory that nothing on my team is going before Dragon Dance x2 Fraxure, but Nessy’s the most likely option for surviving.

It uses Taunt so it doesn’t matter.

Great.

Cerberus, I like Dodrio. An Adamant Dodrio? Wonderful. You will be missed. Fly will be missed. Many things about this feel awful.

Bye.

Stormy is a Jolly Metagross that’s a little quick tempered.

Welcome. You’ll be given the Exp. Share while your new friends try very hard to make it through the rest of this Gym without casualties.

-drums fingers-

With Dragon Dance being a move everything in this Gym is probably going to know, I do not want to play the long game with any of the trainers. I want to go in and kill everything in one hit.

...Caspet is in front.

-hides eyes behind hands-

-gives Caspet a Spell Tag-

One trainer down as planned.

IIIIIII hate this gym.

Druddigon has Crunch. Things to keep in mind.

So now we have the most obnoxious part of this Gym. I get to choose between Rotation and Triple Battle for the next peg up it. My usual path says I do both. In case you haven’t noticed, I hate Triple Battles. Doing one is not high on my list of desired outcomes.

But I’d feel weird avoiding it. Famous last words. -sigh- Caspet, Vertex, Nessy. That’s the order. Let’s do this.

Easy part done. Rotation Battle win. Ugh.

For the sake of my sanity, I’m giving Caspet all three of my Rare Candy. Yes, I have a favorite, yes, it’s the closest thing I have to a starter. If I’m putting her so close to the chopping block, I’m going to make sure she’s fully equipped. Druddigons are surviving to attack her right now, and that’s no bueno.

Triple Battle. Weeee.

It ends in a round because Caspet wins at life. Awesome. Okay.

All that’s left is Drayden.

This guy’s face is a lot less scary when it isn’t up close.

Sooooooo. Level 46 Druddigon is first. Shadow Ball finishes it. Flygon is next. ...That one, I think I can trust to Nessy. Flygon isn’t as much about hard hits.

Level 46 again. Crunch gets a critical hit that just barely keeps Nessy in the green, Nessy uses Surf. Surf brings Flygon to a sliver of red, so I go with Surf again. Hopefully Flygon’s other moves don’t do more damage than a critical hit Crunch, or Drayden feels like healing it.

Yeah, Drayden goes with a Hyper Potion.

...Flygon’s next Crunch gets a critical hit too, what the hell.

Surf after that faints it, though. So that’s two out of three down.

Drayden’s last pokemon is Haxorus. Nessy’s too far in the red to keep in without healing, and Haxorus is high on the Dragon Dance strat list. But if Caspet can’t get it in one hit, I’m pretty confident in Haxorus’ ability to fuck Caspet up.

But I’m honestly pretty confident in Haxorus’ ability to fuck my entire team up. Caspet would be the best bet for ending it fast. ...So, you know. Caspet. Go. Go. not die.

Level 48 Haxorus. Yaaaaaaaaaaay.

CASPET YOU BEAUTIFUL GHOST.

THAT’S BADGE SEVEN.

WE’RE NOT ALL ALIVE BUT ENOUGH OF US ARE.

AND I WAS PREWARNED ABOUT GETTING TALKED TO OUTSIDE ABOUT UNOVA’S MYTHOLOGY, BUT FOR NOW THIS PART IS OVER, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

#Pokemon #Nuzlocke Challenge #Nuzlocke

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