#the IA boys would be nothing without Colette

[little-peril-stories]

no one: absolutely no one: Colette: so I hear we all wanted more Allan whump Allan: oh please no Colette: but what if it was kind of funny. like just a little. and we all had a good laugh at your expense. Allan: OH PLEASE NO

[littleperilstories]

The Prince of Thieves: Making Home (bonus story)

Warnings: mention of insects, mentioned parental death, mention of poverty/homelessness

Listen. It's mostly cuteness. I swear. <3 We've got early-relationship Geoff and Jamie, late-teens Will, and ever-badass Colette!

The idea for this one hit me while we were watching Matilda: The Musical (the film), during the song "My House." It took me two months to actually write it, but here it is.

The Prince of Thieves Masterlist

You don't need to have read any other TPOT chapters to read this, but the character dynamics will make a lot more sense if you have!

Word count: 2169 || Approx reading time: 9 mins

It Isn't Much, But It Is Enough For Me

Teaser: With a glance around, Jamie tried to imagine what the place would look like once they had moved in—once it had more than a few rickety chairs, a table, and some very suspicious-looking beds, once there were curtains on the windows, once it was brimming with food and voices and maybe, after a while, shelves full of books, too.

Jamie

When Jamie Wardrew stepped through the door, the first thing that hit him was the smell of mildew.

Colette, too, wrinkled her nose, but she didn’t seem terribly upset. “Let’s open the windows.”

The spring air still had a bite to it, and if the wind picked up, the old townhouse would certainly feel draughty, but it would help with the mustiness. Colette smiled when she crossed the room to push open the cracked glass window, taking a deep breath as fresh air flowed in. “Better already.”

With a glance around, Jamie tried to imagine what the place would look like once they had moved in—once it had more than a few rickety chairs, a table, and some very suspicious-looking beds, once there were curtains on the windows, once it was brimming with food and voices and maybe, after a while, shelves full of books, too.

Savouring the image he’d painted in his head, Jamie matched Colette’s grin. “Think it’ll be enough space?”

“It’s gonna have to be.” With her hands on her hips, Colette peered around again. “Actually, you know what? I think it’s perfect.”

“Lotta work.”

“You afraid of a little hard work, Alpha?”

Jamie blinked, unsure of exactly what she meant by alpha, but not wanting to admit it and ask. “No. Who do I look like? Will?”

Colette blew a curl out of her face. “He’s going to bitch so much about the cleaning.”

Groans, huffs, sighs, curses, moans. Probably at least one attempt to escape and weasel out of all the work that needed doing, which Jamie or Colette would surely thwart, though Geoff was more likely to let him sneak away, probably. That was going to be Will’s response, no doubt, when he saw how shabby the place was—how much fixing-up was required. “I’ll set him straight if he makes a fuss.”

“I’ll set him straight,” Colette muttered, and Jamie chuckled, not doubting her for an instant.

“When do you think we’ll get to move in?” Jamie ran his hand along a small table in the corner, cringeing at the sight of dark grey dust coating his fingertips.

Taking stock of the place, Colette said, “Well, once it’s scrubbed. And once we know there’ll be enough beds for everyone.”

“Only need three,” Jamie began to say, catching what he was about to do and cutting himself off after need. At Colette’s quizzical look, he quickly added, “Well, that’s good. It’s not too much to do.”

She kept her gaze steady for an extra few moments, a bit too long and discerning for his liking, before she said, “Everything else… It’ll come in time.”

Jamie nodded, smiling again. “Yeah. It will.”

It took a month, in the end, to move in from the day Jamie and Colette signed the lease. Once she split open one of the ancient mattresses the previous tenants had left behind and saw everything that was squirming inside it, she refused to live there until all the mattresses had been replaced.

That ended up being a good idea—Jamie’s stomach turned when he saw exactly what had made her shriek and jump back in horror—and a good task for Will to work on. He and Geoff went on a few excursions to find cheap woven ticks; Colette gave him a tip on where to find some old textiles, discarded by a nearby mill, that would be perfect for stuffing; and he spent a day filling the fresh mattresses with cotton and wool.

What a marvel it was, Jamie thought, that he didn’t even complain too much about it. It was something Will could do to keep his hands busy that didn’t distract him too much from his constant blathering—on and on, rarely even pausing to take a breath. Some days, the everlasting chatter gave Jamie a headache, but most of the time, he found he couldn’t complain. It made him smile to see Colette challenge Will on half the things he said, or to see how attentively Geoff listened although he seldom contributed a single word.

Best of all, since stuffing mattresses wasn’t technically cleaning, it kept his brother much happier than scrubbing the floorboards would have.

It truly was something, Jamie thought, to watch his younger brother’s eyes widen the first time he crossed the threshold, once the place was finally ready to inhabit.

“Holy shit,” Will breathed, and Jamie laughed. “This is ours?”

“It’s not ours,” Jamie corrected him quickly. “We’re just renting it. Don’t get too excited.”

 He pushed away one niggling thought that had been itching at him since he and Colette signed for the townhouse. He’d used his real name on the lease. Had she? She was so secretive about her past, and so much more quick-thinking than all of them sometimes, he suspected she had not. He feared to ask, lest she chastise him for being foolish or naive. For giving his name when perhaps not doing so would have been wiser.

“I know, I know.” Will waved away Jamie’s words. “But it’s… It’s real.”

Swallowing, Jamie put on a smile, hoping his brother couldn’t tell that a lump was growing in his throat. “Yeah.”

Moments like this, moments where Will could stand still, without fidgeting or pacing or tapping his foot—they were so rare. But he was motionless now, captivated, staring at the freshly washed walls and floors, the windows sparkling with rain, the secondhand but still functional white curtains. “It reminds me of…”

His words trailed off, but Jamie knew what he meant. He’d noticed it, too—how much this townhouse resembled the one they’d grown up in. It was older, to be sure, and shabbier than their childhood home had been, and it was in a worse neighbourhood, but something about it nevertheless felt similar; something about it felt familiar.

“I know.” Jamie, too, looked around, letting himself drift into his memories for only a few seconds before he focused back on his brother’s face. “So? How’d we do? You like it?”

Will grinned and flung his arms wide, the moment of peace now passed. “Well, yeah. Beats sleeping outside.”

Clearing his throat, Jamie turned his face away as if he were inspecting the room as his brother had done.

If their parents could see them now, what would they say? Would there be any hint of pride in their eyes when they looked at their sons? Jamie doubted it. Ma would be right pissed that they had scrounged up the funds to rent a decent home with stolen money. Even if he explained the plan, the vision, she’d surely be unimpressed. Iustitia aecum, she’d mutter, shaking her head. Who do you think you are, James Wardrew?

Justice for all men, justice for everyone. Taking from the wealthy. Giving to those who needed it.

Like we did, he’d say.

It isn’t right to take what’s not yours, she’d say. Jamie would duck out of the way before she landed a well-meaning but still surprisingly painful smack on his ear.

I’m doing what I have to do to take care of Will.

While he knew that there would be some sort of clever retort to that, the vision faded as Colette and Geoff tramped through the front door. Jamie held back a chuckle as Geoff shook the rain from his hair, sending a torrent of droplets over Colette.

“Watch it!” she admonished, giving him a nudge with her elbow, her arms occupied with a box full of food she’d picked up from the market before the storm hit. Turning her attention to Will, she said, “Are you going to help me with all this, or what?”

Rolling his eyes and heaving a long sigh, Will crossed the room to relieve her laden arms. “Thought you were tough and strong and didn’t need any help with stuff.”

“Don’t test me, Will Wardrew, unless you want to spend your first night here with a black eye.”

“Are you hearing this?” Will complained, skirting around her hand as she halfheartedly swatted him away.

“Well, don’t be an asshole,” Jamie said with a shrug.

“Don’t play with fire unless you want to get burned,” Colette echoed, glaring him right into the kitchen, though Jamie could see the laughter trying to fight its way onto her face.

Her grin faltered as she caught Jamie’s eye, and they both seemed to have the same thought at the same time. When Jamie glanced over at Geoff, he, too, appeared to be thinking it—the creeping sense that Colette’s warning applied to more than Will’s childish aversion to work.

In starting IA, wasn’t playing with fire precisely what they were doing?

“Hey!” Will called from the kitchen. “How much of this did you actually pay for, huh?”

The tension passed, and Jamie clapped a hand to his forehead. “Fuck’s sake, Will, do you want to yell that any louder?”

A sheepish cackle drifted in from the other room. “Sorry. Wasn’t thinking.”

“The walls aren’t that thick, all right? Watch what you say around here. And how loud you say it.” Jamie went to hover in the kitchen doorway and found that what awaited him there didn’t surprise him in the slightest. Will had stopped short of actually putting away any of Colette’s shopping, and he was now sitting on the edge of the table, swinging his legs, his feet just brushing the floor. He’d pulled an apple from the box and was tossing it into the air and catching it again, looking thoroughly untroubled and amused by this new preoccupation.

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Jamie darted in and snatched the apple from mid-air, before his brother could grab it. “Hey. Get your lazy ass up and put this stuff away.”

The response Jamie received was less than polite, but Will slid to the floor and obliged, muttering only a little as he did. When Jamie glanced back through the doorway, he caught Geoff watching them with a smile tugging at his lips.

Can’t believe we’re here, he seemed to say.

Jamie looked back at him for a moment, then looked away to monitor what Will was doing, feeling the heat in his face and chest that always accompanied Geoff’s searing gaze.

Neither can I, but I’m glad we are.

That feeling of contentment, the sense that Jamie had at last gotten something right after so many years of floundering and failing, stayed with him as night fell—their first night together in their house, their home. He and his family curled into the sitting room, and the space didn’t feel crowded or too small, even though Geoff’s legs stretched from his spot halfway to Colette’s chair, even though Will had sprawled on the floor like a child, gangly limbs everywhere.

Jamie relished the closeness of Geoff next to him, not too close, not touching, but near enough that the air between them crackled with warmth. He bent over one of Will’s shirts, silently cursing the dim light of the fire and the candle on the age-spotted table next to him, as he sewed a red patch onto the elbow to hide a tear that had come from who knew where. A muscled brown arm obscured his vision for a moment, and when he followed its movement, he saw Geoff nudging the candlestick a little further away.

“Gonna set your hair on fire.”

Will cracked up. “Now that would be funny.” Colette, from where she was thumbing through a book she’d acquired earlier that day, aimed a kick at his shoulder, and he rolled out of the way just in time, forcing Geoff to lift his legs to avoid a collision.

“Two for two,” Will chuckled, keeping his distance, and Jamie recalled Colette’s earlier attempts to smack his brother earlier in the day. “Better luck next time.”

“One of these days, your luck is going to run out.” Colette, however, was laughing too. She held up her book. “Everyone ready?”

Jamie murmured an affirmation, Geoff nodded, and even Will, despite a scoff that was a bit too dramatic to be believable, settled into a comfortable position as Colette flipped back to the first page and began to read aloud. “‘Attend and listen, gentlemen that are of freeborn blood, for I shall tell you of a good man. His name was…’”

Still on the floor, Will was fidgeting with a smooth stone he’d picked up years before, something to keep himself from wriggling around too much, but he was listening. With his eyes on Colette and Colette’s attention on the page, Jamie pulled one hand from the mending just for a minute and rested it next to his leg. Quick as a flash, Geoff’s warm fingers brushed his, squeezing tight, and then pulled away again.

It was perfect, Jamie decided. Small, absolutely. Shabby, well, that couldn’t be helped. But it was warm and safe and full of the most important people in the entire world. And that was all he needed.

The Prince of Thieves Masterlist

Tagging: @starlit-hopes-and-dreams, @gala1981, @kixngiggles .

[littleperilstories]

Heads Up, Seven Up

I was tagged by @winterandwords (almost two weeks ago 😅) to share seven lines from a WIP.

Here are 7 sentences from Chapter 36 of The Prince of Thieves, which is currently in the editing phase.

Tagging: @i-can-even-burn-salad, @starlit-hopes-and-dreams but only if you want to bc this is a no-pressure zone + OPEN TAG

“Did you hear?” Verity giggles nervously to herself the moment the question leaves her lips. “What am I saying? Of course you didn’t.”

“Hear what?” I ask warily. She is filled with energy, twitching and fidgety and a little pale; her fingers worry at the violet fabric of her dress. I beckon her to sit in my little nest, and she obliges, handing me some thickly buttered bread as she does.

[littleperilstories]

From Chapter 36, "Do I Stay or Do I Dare?" (coming tomorrow)

Masterlist | Mood Boards | Chapter Titles | Also on A03! | Playlist | Story Intro

[littleperilstories]

things you might like about tpot chapter 17, "the light in the storm"

(in no particular order)

stabbed

Protective Big Brother Jamie

Caretaker Colette

but also some snarky Colette

Caretaker Geoff

flashback, past tense, third person POV

cute Jamie and Geoff PDA 💕

"I'm sorry for you worrying you."

stitches 🧵

"Where does it hurt?"

collapse in the snow

yes, you read that right, more ❄️ snow ❄️

so I wonder what could be happening in this chapter

and which plot thread it continues

blood

weak and woozy from blood loss

worry (being expressed as anger wheeee)

angst

trying to be brave and tough

learning [redacted]'s dorky middle name

"Promise?" "Promise." 💕

no Hatch-bitch in sight :)

See any tropes you like? :')

(I definitely didn't make this list to distract you from last week's flogging cliffhanger okbyeeeee)

[littleperilstories]

[Image ID: a square image featuring falling snow in the background. White, all-caps text reads: "What? Where does it hurt?" When Will said nothing, Colette tugged open the front of his coat to reveal that his shirt was soaked with blood. End ID.]

From Chapter 17, "The Light in the Storm" (coming tomorrow)

Read The Prince of Thieves on Tumblr.

Read The Prince of Thieves on Ao3.

[littleperilstories]

[Image ID: a square image with a dark, misty background featuring an old, possibly Victorian mansion. White and beige text reads: Until the door creaks open, I can only accept that I am at her mercy and hope with all my heart that, this time, she hasn't decided to rat me out. End ID.]

From Chapter 22, "A House is Not a Home" (coming tomorrow)

Read The Prince of Thieves on Tumblr.

Read The Prince of Thieves on Ao3.

[littleperilstories]

🌌 If your OC has a nightmare, what’s it most likely about? - Jamie

🥪 On a scale from ‘burns water’ to '5 course menu’ how well can your OC cook? - Bree

🤝 Does your OC have someone they want at their side when they are scared? Who? - Colette

🎨 Does your OC have any craft skill, as a hobby or profession? If so which? - Will

Thank you, Anna, for the ask! From Elli's own ask game <3 !

[I knew someone was going to ask about the nightmare one for Jamie, ahahaha.]

🌌 If your OC has a nightmare, what’s it most likely about? - Jamie

Oh, Jamie. :( The common theme in his nightmares is "family" (yes it's Family Day where I am, but this would be true any other day, too.

Here are some of the things Jamie might have a nightmare about:

his dad dying in his work accident

his mom dying slowly of illness

Will getting hurt or dying in front of him

Geoff getting hurt or dying in front of him

Colette getting hurt or dying in front of him

what Will is going through in jail

being the one who got arrested instead

🥪 On a scale from ‘burns water’ to '5 course menu’ how well can your OC cook? - Bree

Let's put Bree at a solid 3.5 on this scale. Girl had servants in the early days of her life, but she had to learn how to cook when Silas lost the fortune. She prepared meals for him, etc. before he died, and she had to take care of herself after that. So she's all right, but it's not exactly something she loves to do. Maybe she will learn to love it one day, when life is...different.

🤝 Does your OC have someone they want at their side when they are scared? Who? - Colette

Colette is very independent! She can definitely handle herself, scared or not, so this is a tough question to answer. Out of the IA inner circle, she'd definitely choose to have Jamie or Geoff by her side, probably Geoff if she really had to choose because that guy is pretty unflappable. She loves and values Will, too, obviously, but...uh...who would you want by your side in a crisis?

There is another person who is really important to her, but it's someone she would not want by her side in a scary situation, because she doesn't want that person to get hurt.

🎨 Does your OC have any craft skill, as a hobby or profession? If so which? - Will

Well, he knows how to whittle/carve stuff (good for keeping antsy hands busy), so that's a cool skill!

I can see him going into carpentry or blacksmithing if he, you know, had a real job. :)

[littleperilstories]

📚 Your OC has to improvise a 10 minute lecture about a topic of their choosing. What do they chose? - Will *snicker*

📅 If your OC had one day left to live, how would they spend it? - Bree :p

🐁 Capybaras are friend-shaped. What shape does your OC have? - Jamie

🥞 Does your OC take proper care of themselves, like getting enough sleep and eating properly? - Colette

No Hatch-Bitch today, he can go fuck himself >:(

Thank you Elli for the ask! 💕 And thank you for creating this ask game!

📚 Your OC has to improvise a 10 minute lecture about a topic of their choosing. What do they chose? - Will *snicker*

If it’s truly impromptu, Will is absolutely just going to open his mouth and start talking.

What will he talk about? Who frickin knows…

Ok seriously I think he would talk about the dogs he and Jamie had for a few years when they were younger - how he found them, how he convinced his family to say yes, little cute stories from that time, how to care for them, and so on. :)

📅 If your OC had one day left to live, how would they spend it? - Bree :p

Of course you asked this question omggg 😭

Well let’s hear it from the gal herself, shall we? (not *super* edited, please forgive)

“I’d also start with a bath,” I confess. I comb my fingers through the tangled mess that passes for my hair. “The boarding house rarely had warm water for bathing. I never thought I’d be missing that rusty, freezing bathtub.” What I wouldn’t give, even, for just a comb. I’m going to walk to the gallows with a rat’s nest on my head.

“All right. And then?”

This is so much harder than I thought.

“I’d walk, too, I suppose,” I say, “but…not for a whole day. That’s madness.” He smiles despite the jab. “Go to the library, maybe? Stop at a bakery on the way?”

“Cakes?”

“Of course,” I say, and the look on his face is almost enough to make me cry. We both laugh instead.

“Don’t think too hard about the cakes,” I say. “You’ll only miss them more.”

“Why’d you have to bring up the bakery?”

“You brought up the cakes!”

🐁 Capybaras are friend-shaped. What shape does your OC have? - Jamie

What…shape…is Jamie…

Don’t say human-shaped, Kate.

Don’t say wolf-shaped, Kate.

Depending on the day, Jamie is...

an iceberg

one of those trees that grows out of the side of an eroding slope and the roots are becoming visible and you walk by and say, "hmm, wonder when that one's going to fall down"

a mother hen

🥞 Does your OC take proper care of themselves, like getting enough sleep and eating properly? - Colette

Most of the time, Colette does. I think Jamie said at some point early in the story that he can tell, or he suspects, that she came from money before they met, and he’s right. She was used to a certain quality of life before she left home. 😂

So, yes, Colette is taking care of herself—bathing regularly, getting enough sleep, and eating well. Maybe not as well as the olden days, but well enough.

When she gets stressed and worried, though…

Here's a rejected teaser for Chapter 22.

[Image ID: an image with a colourful Victorian house in the background. The image is overlaid with white text that reads: You're too thin. Have you been eating enough? And look at you. You need a bath. You've got leaves in your hair, did you know? Don't you take care of yourself when you're away? Where have you been? End ID.]

[littleperilstories]

[Image ID: a square image with falling snow in the background. White, all-caps texts reads: What do you think happened? You think he's hurt, lost, or just an idiot? End ID.]

From Chapter 17, "The Light in the Storm" (coming Thursday)

Read The Prince of Thieves on Tumblr.

Read The Prince of Thieves on Ao3.

[littleperilstories]

[Image ID: a square image featuring a dark background of raindrops running down a window pane. Mostly white, all caps text reads: I stand trembling before him, wondering if I can keep my composure enough to tell what I witnessed with even a mite of dignity. Breathe. I need to breathe. The words trembling, composure, witnessed, and dignity are beige instead of white. End ID.]

From Chapter 16, "My Heart Breaks For You" (coming today - surprise!)

Read The Prince of Thieves on Tumblr.

Read The Prince of Thieves on Ao3.

[littleperilstories]

*cracks knuckles*

Will: 💥 COLLISON - what emotions do they have trouble dealing with?

Jamie: 😨 FEARFUL - when scared, do they go into "flight" or "fight"?

Bree: 👪 FAMILY - what is their family like? what is your ocs relationship to them? does your oc have any siblings?

Colette: 🕷️ SPIDER - what is their biggest fear? do they have any irrational / mundane fears?

Hatch-fucking-ett: ☄️ COMET - what do people assume about them? are they right?

From this ask game.

Warnings: mention of abusive dad, parental death, corporal punishment in school, general sad backstory & trauma

Spoilers (I guess) for this chapter below (the one with Ezra).

Will: 💥 COLLISON - what emotions do they have trouble dealing with?

Oh, this boy is such a goddamn silly complex mess. He's totally a "put on a brave face" kind of guy—respond to terror with snark. (Not that this ever helps him out, by the way. Back in his schoolhouse days, the teacher would just bring the strap down on his palm harder.) Grief and dread are hard for him to manage, too—they result in more snark, and of course the false hope that bit him in the ass after Ezra's execution.

The moment Will truly admits to himself that there's nothing, absolutely nothing else he can do to fix the mess he's in—the moment he gives up and gives in—you know our boy has finally broken.

Jamie: 😨 FEARFUL - when scared, do they go into "flight" or "fight"?

So....Jamie's whole thing is that, like Colette, he is cautious—a thinker, a rational decision-maker, when circumstances allow him to think things through. In most situations, he knows when it's the right choice to fight or flee. (He is unlikely to 'freeze' or 'fawn,' if you've heard that variation.) He cares so much about the people he helps through IA (who our fave thieves give their spoils to), that he is probably thinking about what's right for them in a moment of crisis as much as he's thinking about what's right for him.

What "fight" looks like on Jamie Wardrew, though, depends on what's going on. He's not a naturally violent person, and he doesn't resort immediately to using his fists (like a certain little brother probably would). But he knows how to fight in other ways—like going against "the man" to battle injustice.

When it comes to protecting Will, though...well, let's just say that he'll go against his own rules.

Bree: 👪 FAMILY - what is their family like? what is your ocs relationship to them? does your oc have any siblings?

haha OOOKAAAY. Bree had a terrible relationship with her family.

She doesn't remember much about her grandparents, though they were still alive when she was quite young. I'd like to think that they would have been kind and loving had they lived long enough to get to know her, but Bree never got the chance.

Her mother was very different from the young woman Bree has become. She got steamrolled by Silas Cooper for her entire marriage to him, and she did little to fight back against his abusive tendencies. Bree grew up knowing that's not the kind of person she wanted to be.

Bree's relationship with her dad was basically a nightmare. He was verbally, emotionally, and physically abusive for much of her life. He never fully accepted responsibility for losing the family fortune, and he definitely still expected his wife and daughter to take care of him even when they were living in poverty—even when his wife was growing ill. That responsibility fell to Bree after her mother died.

He insisted on honouring Bree's engagement, something that had been arranged years before, despite knowing that she and the would-be groom were ill-suited to one another. Silas Cooper's death was liberating rather than tragic for her.

Colette: 🕷️ SPIDER - what is their biggest fear? do they have any irrational / mundane fears?

LOL I love that you picked the spider for this one.

Time for a lore drop / some Colette backstory!

What is Colette afraid of? Being abandoned, and doing the same to those she loves. After she was cruelly disowned by her father and stepmother for something over which she had no control, she lives in fear of being rejected again—and of becoming just like the family members who hurt her.

I have this weird feeling that she might be a little afraid of dogs but that inkling came out of nowhere. We'll see if it becomes canon.

Hatch-fucking-ett: ☄️ COMET - what do people assume about them? are they right?

I think strangers assume he's a chill, well-rounded guy who's got his life together and who is content with his lot in life. Why wouldn't they? He's got a good job. He comes from a moderately wealthy family. He always looks proper, his unifom absolutely spick-and-span. Why shouldn't he be happy with the hand he's been dealt...why wouldn't he have a robust social life and a gal he's chasing after?

Are they right? Hell, no. This guy has zero grip on reality. He is under a lot of pressure to prove himself in his position of power that he was promoted into (probably a bit too quickly). And, no, he doesn't have a girl he's wooing, not since some penniless harlot broke his (admittedly already-icy) heart a few years ago. His job has become his life, his vendetta against IA an obsession.

[littleperilstories]

When I first wrote Colette, she was just a side character. When I started writing the new/revival chapters, I quickly realized how much I love her...and how important she is to Will and Jamie.