#the royal guard is like alright everybody grab at least three! more if you can

[varpusvaras]

The Alderaanian Royal Guard gets really protective of the Coruscant Guard. Like. Really protective. At some point the people start treating the Corries better if only because they know that there is always an Alderaanian somewhere in the vicinity. Sometimes it's the Senator himself. Once or twice it was the Queen. But there is always at least one member of the Royal Guard there. Somewhere. For people who say they are pacifists, they seem really bloodthirsty.

After a while, people are starting to figure out that they might've been just supressing any murderous intents up until now, and it's better if you don't tempt them too much.

(The word got out at some point that Fox was dating the Queen and the Senator and that it was serious. The Royal Guard immediately turned on the Prince treatment. Fox bluescreened the first time one of them opened a door for him.)

[traveller-lover-dreamer]

Daughter of the Sea, chapter 7

Yo guys I wrote the next DOTS chapter today and I kinda like it a lot even though it is a lot shorter than the usual chapters. Enjoy your reading!

Prologue | Chapter one | Chapter two | Chapter three | Chapter four | Chapter five | Chapter six

Pairing: Royal!Tom Holland X Royal!Reader

Word count: 6k

Warnings: Death, blood, kinda smut too but it isn’t like a normal full on described smut I guess?? But they still have sex and it’s explicit, I tried to find every typo but english isn’t my first language so it’s kinda hard for me

Author’s note: Hey guys I’m happy to tell you that the prologue is in this chapter! The only thing is that I’ve changed it a little bit for it to fit the story better but it’s almost practically the same!

          The fishmongers’ shouting was getting overwhelming as you spent another day in the port, looking for a galley that would accept to cross the Mermaid Sea. It had been almost a week. Seven days of getting told that you were crazy to want to cross the Mermaid Sea. Especially at this time of the year. Autumn was coming and the gods knew storms were more frequent in autumn.

“There aren’t any new ships”, you stated.

The prince sighed. “We’re losing time.”

           Words hadn’t even reached Meryndel yet though. Perhaps your father had declared war already but he hadn’t called for the banners just yet. You hoped this was a good sign.

“What about this galley?” asked Lord Pettyfer.

“I don’t trust them”, Tom said.

           Their banner was a black skull on a bloody background. Bloody because you swore the fabric wasn’t supposed to be that shade. It looked like dried blood and just to look at it sent shivers down your spine.

“They’re our only hope”, Carlson stated. “All the others have refused more than once to give us safe passage to the North.”

           You grabbed Tom by the arm and pulled him aside.

“Tom, we don’t have a choice”, you told him. “I don’t like them either but by the look of them, they are pirates. And only pirates will accept to sail the Mermaid Sea, you know it.”

“I have a bad feeling about them”, Tom explained. “Their ship looks half broken if I’m being honest and that banner of theirs is a frightful thing. We’re not boarding this ship.”

“What could happen?” you asked.

“For instance they could decide that murdering the prince of the North and the princess of the South is a good idea”, Tom said. “Or they could keep us both alive and sell us as slaves in the Golden Islands. They could also ask for a ransom to the kings. With the war coming they won’t be able to spare the gold to save us.”

“Listen, Tom”, you softly said. “I’m scared too. But if we pay them enough, I don’t see what could go wrong. We could offer them the Windy Isle.”

“The Windy Isle is a desolated place”, Tom stated.

“Desolated because pirates sacked it years ago”, you told him. “They could rebuild something on the island and make the place their den.”

“Y/N, this is even a worse idea”, Tom refused.

“We could tell them that if they stay in our grace they will receive gold each year”, you continued. “No need to plunder anymore.”

“Pirates always want more.”

“Then we’ll give them more”, you assured. “We can’t stay here any longer and you know it.”

“If we die…” Tom started.

“That’s on me”, you finished. “But if we don’t, we’ll save both of our kingdoms.” You walked back to the other men. “We’re going on the pirate galley.”

           The men followed you as you leaded the way toward the galley. The docks were crowded and more than once you had to step aside to let a litter or a fishmonger’s cart pass. Tom quickly joined you at the head of the men, a hand on the hilt of his sword to scare thieves away.

“You know people could attack you, princess”, he stated.

“They won’t”, you affirmed.

“And why is that?” the prince asked.

“I have six armed men behind me”, you explained. “And a dagger up my sleeve.”

           Tom had given you the dagger the day after you had arrived in Meryndel. He said that it was to make sure you were always safe. And it helped you to feel safer if you were being honest. Even though you had no clue how to use it.

“Most of thieves also have a dagger up their sleeves”, Tom said. “And most of them know how to use it.”

“I’m tired of depending on people, Tom”, you confessed. “I don’t want to always have to wait for people to protect me. The world can’t be so bad. Not everyone wants to kill or steal or rape.”

“That’s not what I’m saying”, Tom interjected. “You just have this way of moving that shows you are rich. I don’t know. It’s something in the way you walk with your head held high.”

“Are you saying people would attack me because I look rich?” you asked.

“Sums it up, yeah.”

“Then I’m lucky I have four knights, a lord and a prince with me”, you said as you stopped next to the galley.

           You scanned the docks in search of the captain of the ship. Your eyes stopped on a fat man all clad in dark blue silk.

“That’s our man”, you whispered to Tom.

“Let me do the talking”, Tom said.

           He walked toward the captain. He was just far enough to be out of earshot, so you watched the whole exchange, hoping that the captain was going to accept.

           A moment later, Tom walked back towards you.

“We have our ship”, he said. “Thing is, only me and the princess can get in.”

“No, that is not happening, prince Thomas”, Lord Pettyfer said. “We’ve all sworn to protect you when we left Londir. We have to be with you if we want to be able to protect you.”

“I know, I know”, Tom said. “But the captain doesn’t have the place for more than two people.”

“I don’t like it”, Lord Pettyfer said.

“It’s going to be just fine”, Tom reassured. “We’ll pay them with gold and precious stones. The captain asks for a lot but at least we know we’ll be fine.”

“You know he’ll probably only take the gold and kill you afterwards?” Carlson interjected.

“I told them that the payment will be awaiting us on the other side of the sea”, Tom said.

“There isn’t any payment on the other side”, Lord Pettyfer doubtfully said. “Don’t you think they’ll kill you for this?”

“We’ll figure something out”, Tom reassured. “He said it should take somewhere between a fortnight or a month to get there. Plenty of time to figure something out.”

“We’d just have to send a bird to Londir”, you suggested. “The king would most certainly send an envoy with the gold.”

“Perhaps you’re right”, Tom admitted. “We’ll give it a try.” He paused, glancing at the two sailors who were staring at you from the deck. “We’re boarding at first light tomorrow.”

           On that note the prince spun around, walking towards the other side of the docks where the inn in which you were staying was.

           You shot a look to your right as sailors hollered. You noticed their eyes were on you but they spoke a weird language. They were shirtless, but their skin were covered in dark tattoos which almost looked like spirals.

“Gods are good…” you whispered.

“You know them?” Carlson asked.

“No”, you said. “I’ve only heard stories of their people. What are they doing here?”

“Islanders”, Tom said. “They even trade with the North, princess.”

“I’m betrothed to their prince”, you stated. “Or was betrothed. Don’t they know about the war?”

           One of the sailors whistled and jumped on the dock. Another man whose skin was as dark as a moonless night followed him. Their hands were on the hilts of their scimitars and the looks on their faces were nothing good.

“Why are they coming our way?” you asked as Tom stood in front of you.

“Valas satharnas prinketh”, the first sailor spat.

           The sailors stopped a couple of feet away. The knights stood around you, their hands on the hilts of their swords.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Tom asked.

The men laughed.  “Dakhas nakhornah kloddeth”, the second man said. “Dunh kahlleas.”

“Does one of you speak Islandish?” you asked.

           The Northerners didn’t have the time to answer. The two sailors launched forward, unsheathing their scimitars at the same time. Carlson was killed as he jumped in front of the prince to protect him from the attack. You stood in shock as the fight unfolded around you. Well, the fight wasn’t so long. Tom slayed the man who had killed Carlson and Lord Pettyfer decapitated the other one with a single blow of his long sword.

“Best get out of here”, Tom said through ragged breath.

“What should we do with Carlson?” you asked.

“We leave the body here, princess”, Lord Pettyfer said. “We can’t risk getting caught by the guards.”

“But…” you started.

“Y/N, there’s nothing we can do”, Tom softly said.

           You shot a glance to the body lying in a pool of blood before looking back to the prince.

“Okay”, you whispered.

           You followed the men to the Red Horse Inn, keeping your head low. All you could picture was Carlson’s dead body and the fact that it could have been Tom. It could have been Tom. That single thought was one of the scariest you had ever had.

           When you got to the inn, the knights decided to stay in the common room but you felt sick and needed to be alone for a moment. Tom followed you up the wooden stairs.

“Princess”, he called you as you unlocked the door to your room.

“Thomas”, you said as you opened the door and walked in, the prince following after you.

“I’m sorry you had to witness that”, he apologized.

“It wasn’t your fault”, you stated.

           You exchanged a long look with the prince as you again thought Tom could have died.

“If it wasn’t for Carlson…” you started.

“It would have been me, I know”, the prince carefully said.

           You sat down on the bed after having put your dagger down on the night table. You hid your face in your hands as the adrenaline left you. You sighed shakily as tears formed in your eyes.

“Hey, it’s fine, princess”, Tom gently said as he sat down next to you.

“Nothing’s fine, Thomas”, you cried. “A month ago I was still home and everything was alright. Now the world has gone mad.”

“No, it hasn’t”, the prince insisted. “We’re on our way to stop a war.”

“And we’re risking to get killed every day”, you added.

“But that’s part of life”, Tom stated. “Everybody dies someday. You just have to make it all worthwhile while you’re still here. Remember, we’re doing this for our kingdoms.”

“I know”, you sighed. “I’m just scared. If you would have died today… nothing would have been able to stop the war.”

“But I didn’t”, Tom reminded you. “And tomorrow we will sail with the pirate ship and hopefully a month from now we will be wed in the White Church in Londir.”

           You weren’t really sure about this but you hoped the prince was right. If he wasn’t… then you didn’t know what would happen. Well, in fact you knew. You knew you were going to die in a helpless attempt to save your kingdom from a meaningless war.

“If things go wrong…” you started.

“They won’t”, Tom insisted. “The gods are on our side.”

“Are they really?” you asked, glancing at Tom.

He reached up to dry your cheek with one of his thumb. “They are, princess.”

           His hand lingered on your cheek as you got lost into the golden specks in his eyes. He slowly leaned in, barely pressing his lips against yours before pulling away. You put your hand over his before he moved it, your other hand finding the back of his neck to pull him closer. You kissed him as your heart skipped a beat in your chest. He could have died.

           The kiss got more heated as your lips moved together, the fire inside of you being awakened yet again. Because that’s what Tom was: a raging fire. And kissing him like that made the fire so much brighter.

           You lied down on the bed, pulling Tom closer. The prince hovered over you as you bit his lower lip. He pulled away and resisted when you tried to kiss him again.

“Princess”, he said with a low husky voice. “We can’t do this.”

“We can’t kiss?” you asked. “In a month we shall be wedded. Husband and wife can kiss all they want.”

“But we aren’t yet”, he insisted.

“You could have died”, you whispered.

“I didn’t, I’m still here.”

You held his gaze for a moment and this time he didn’t resist as you pulled him closer. He kissed you, carefully, but the fire in you wasn’t one to be tamed. Your tongue danced on his lower lip before it found his.

Suddenly, it was as if Tom had been struck by lightning. He was electrified by the way your lips moved against his and he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop. So he kissed you back, the electricity flowing freely in his bloodstream.

The prince left your mouth to leave a trail of hot kisses along your jawline. He kissed your neck, sucking on the skin. Your hand tugged at his curls and he raised his head as you crashed your lips against his.

Tom put one of his hand behind your knee to wrap your leg around his waist as his hips grinded against yours. You could feel his arousal against you and that’s when you knew you wouldn’t be able to stop. Not this time. You had wanted this to happen ever since that night in the woods and now it was too late to stop.

Tom sat in bed, his hands fumbling with his breeches. You sat up too, helping him to unlace his breeches. He took off his linen shirt and then got up to take his trousers off after having undone his sword belt. Suddenly, he was standing right there in front of you, naked, and you felt heat rushing to your cheeks.

“I’ll need your help to get this dress off”, you said.

Tom nodded his head as you got up. He unlaced your dress, kissing your neck as he did so. He took the dress off of your shoulders and let it fall to the ground. His lips connected with the skin of your shoulder and he sucked on it. You moaned softly.

Tom made you turn around, taking in the sight of your naked body. You felt shy under his stare but when his eyes got back to yours you knew you had no reason to worry.

“You are beautiful”, he whispered.

           You blushed as he pulled you towards the bed. You lied down on the mattress as he climbed on top of you. You wrapped your legs around his waist as you kissed him with all the passion in your heart.

           Although you should have been scared, you felt at peace right now. You were going to lose your maidenhead, but you would lose it to someone you loved. And although it mattered that you keep your maidenhead until the wedding, nothing could stop you right now.

           Your nails dig into the skin of his shoulders as the prince thrusted in and pain shot through your body. Tom raised his head from the crook of your neck.

“Are you alright?” he gently asked.

“I am”, you answered through ragged breath. “More painful than I expected it to be.”

“We can stop”, the prince whispered.

“Don’t”, you refused. “Just go slow.”

           And he did. Eventually the pain died down and you were able to actually enjoy the moment. Tom started moving faster and you let out a moan. His lips found yours again and he kissed you gently.

“I won’t last long”, Tom whispered against your lips.

           You only kissed him with all the fire in your heart in response. Soon enough, Tom stopped moving as he let out a breath and spilled his seed inside of you. You kissed him for a long time before Tom rolled over to lie beside you.

           You felt more alive than you had ever been in your life. You looked around you and although the room hadn’t changed, the light seemed brighter. The colors were more beautiful. But what was truly beautiful was the man lying next to you.

           You rolled on your side to put your head in Tom’s shoulder. He put his arm around you and you laid there for a long time before moving. The sun was getting low on the horizon when you did, painting the room in gold.

“Should we get something to eat?” the prince asked.

“That sounds like a great idea”, you answered as your stomach grumbled.

           The prince chuckled as you sat down in bed, smiling a lazy smile.

“I’m starving, actually”, you stated.

“I could tell”, he laughed.

           You both got dressed, Tom helping you to lace your dress, before walking down to the common room.

           You ate in the men’s company, washing the food down with ale. All along you watched the prince and it was like you were seeing him for the first time. He seemed to be glowing although his hair was a mess. Which is my fault. Just that thought made you blush.

           The men’s mood wasn’t really cheerful, especially not since Carlson had died. But everyone knew he had died doing his duty, which seemed to be the best death for knights.

           Later that evening you walked back to your room along with the prince. You made love again as the silver rays of the moon bathed you in its glow and then fell asleep in the prince’s arms.

 -

 Morning came faster than you had wanted it to. You had to get dressed quickly to get to the ship on which you were going to make your way across the sea. Again, Tom helped you to put on your dress and he softly kissed you before you left your room.

“Do you think we will be fine?” you asked.

“Together we will”, he replied.

           Tom stopped in the kitchen to ask for a loaf of bread along with berries to break your fast and then you made your way out to the docks. Surprisingly, the docks were pretty empty at that time and you were able to walk to the ship without being stopped by anyone.

           You shot a look to the spot where Carlson had been killed yesterday. The body was nowhere to be seen but there was dried blood. You looked to the dock where the Islander ship had been but it was gone. You looked away, concentrating on the ship you were going to board. Its red sails were lowered, hanging loosely from the mast. The black skull on their banner was flapping in the wind and it looked even more dreadful in the rising sun.

“Are you sure about this?” you asked Tom.

“Yes”, Tom reassured. “I’ve offered them all the gold in Huller Town and the Windy Isle.”

           For a moment you didn’t understand what Tom was talking about but then you remembered that Huller Town was probably the richest city in the North.

“I hope that’ll be enough”, you said.

           The captain saw you from the deck and he jumped down from the ship.

“Climb on boat”, he said with a thick accent.

           According to what you knew about accents, you suspected that this man was from the east. He smiled to you and you noticed most of his teeth were rotten. It took everything in you not to throw up in his face.

“Lady follows not”, he added when he noticed you following the prince.

“What?” you said.

“Sir, I told you yesterday that we both had to sail to the North”, Tom reminded the captain.

“Lady on boat bad”, the man said. “Gods mad.”

“They won’t be”, Tom reassured. “Remember, we will pay you all the gold in Huller Town.”

“Yes, prince Thomas”, the man said before climbing on deck.

           Tom stood still, clearly not understanding how the man knew who he was.

“This is bad, Tom”, you whispered in his ear.

“We don’t have the choice”, he repeated. “Come.”

           He grabbed your hand to help you to climb on board. The captain had made his way to the back of the boat and was shouting orders to the crew. You noticed how every man seemed to be of a different origin. You noticed a Sandazi from the desert tribes, recognisable thanks to the scars on his cheeks. There was some Islanders too and one or two men from the east. The Dragon people… you wondered what could have brought them to this ship.

           There were also a few Southerners and a few Northerners on board, but they kept a careful distance with you. You didn’t know what the captain had told them but you were glad for it.

           The cog set sails as the sun rose in the sky. The wind was blowing hard which was a good sign for the crossing. You watched as you exited the docks, zigzagging through bigger ships. Eventually, the cog left the bay of the city to finally sail on the Mermaid Sea.

           You watched the seagulls following the ship, listening to their cries. Thomas was sitting somewhere on your left. The moment he had set foot on the ship you had known that the crossing was going to be hard for him. Although the sea was not really agitated at the moment, you could tell he was already sea-sick.

           You walked to him as you took in the smell of the sea air. It smelled of fish and salt and of something else that you couldn’t quite put your finger on. Tom shot you a look as you stopped next to him and then rested his gaze back on the city that was already disappearing in the distance.

“First time on a boat?” you asked.

“We don’t sail on boats in the North”, Tom stated.

You laughed. “Well, I’m sure there are fishers in the North too, Tom.”

“Yeah there are”, Tom replied. “We actually have this thing we call fish and chips. It’s really good. Although the thought of food is making me sick right now.”

           He got up and walked to the rail of the boat. He retched the food he had eaten for breakfast before taking a step back.

“This is going to be awful”, he complained.

“I’m personally feeling quite alright”, you admitted, a playful smile on your lips.

Tom squinted at you. “This is unfair.”

“You”, the captain suddenly said, making you jump. “Give me sword.”

           Tom seemed alarmed for a moment but he nonetheless unbuckled his sword belt and gave it to the sailor who was accompanying the captain.

“Have weapons?” the captain asked you.

You sighed before pulling your dagger from your sleeve.

“Good”, the captain said. “Now, go in cabin. You prisoners.”

           This was bad. You shot a look to Tom, who seemed to be about to retch again. Which he did before two sailors dragged him to the cabin. You walked behind them, knowing that resisting was completely aimless.

           The cabin stank of burned oil but it was cozier than expected. There was a bed nailed to the floor, along with a desk and a chair, both nailed to the floor too. On the desk there was an oil lamp, which was currently not lit up. Another one was hanging from the ceiling. Each time the cog climbed a wave, the lamp moved which made its flame flicker.

           You sat on the bed, along with Tom, who seemed about to throw up yet again. The captain stood with his hands on his hips next to the door.

“Bucket for prince”, he said before leaving the room.

           Tom took a deep breath and you put a reassuring hand on his knee.

“You’re going to be alright”, you gently said. “It’s just like if we were on the ground.”

“Except the ground’s moving”, he complained.

“It barely is”, you remarked.

“I hope it won’t get worse”, Tom whispered.

“It won’t”, you affirmed although you knew there was no chance the sea would be so calm all along.

           The captain came back with a bucket that he gave to Tom.

“Meals at sunset”, he told you before leaving again.

           You heard him lock the door behind him and you sighed. You would have much rather spend the journey on deck.

           The first days were the worst for Tom. He threw everything he ate up and even when he hadn’t eaten anything his stomach heaved. You never were sick, although the smell in the cabin grew awful with Tom’s vomit. At least the captain sent a boy to clean everything up every day.

           The meals consisted of fish and algae, sometimes accompanied with salt beef. Most of the time it was only fish though. That didn’t help Tom and the first days he didn’t even take a single bite of the fish. He eventually got used to it though and were able to eat a little by the beginning of the second week.

           You knew it was the second week because you had received seven meals by then. If you had understood correctly, the captain had said that you were going to get a single meal per day, at sunset. So this was your only way of keeping track with the time that was passing by outside of the cabin.

           You had tried talking with the boy who cleaned the room but you had eventually realized that he couldn’t speak. At first you had thought he just didn’t know your language but then you understood that his tongue had been torn out.

           You took a sip of the flagon of wine the boy had brought you the last time he had come for the supper. Tom was currently sleeping and you were left listening to the sound of his soft snores. You tried to listen to the sounds outside of the cabin but they were too indistinct for you to understand something. You heard shouting outside of the cabin and suddenly the door flew open. Tom was woken up immediately.

“What is going on?” he asked.

           You shrugged your shoulders as the captain walked in.

“Serpent”, he explained. “See.”

           He motioned for you to follow him and you shot a questioning look to Tom. Tom decided to follow the captain because he needed fresh air and you followed them because you couldn’t help but to wonder what the captain had meant with “serpent”.

           You quickly understood what he was talking about when you saw the glimmer of the sun on the blue and purple scales of the monster swimming next to the ship. It was approximatively twenty meters long, which meant it was longer than the cog itself. The ship crew were all looking at it, dreading the moment it was going to attack. But it didn’t.

           The creature disappeared under the sea after having swam next to the boat for about an hour. From that day you were granted access to the deck, as long as you stayed on the side and weren’t in the way of the ship crew. Tom didn’t seem to appreciate being on deck as much as you. Not seeing ground around made him feel sick and he wasn’t able to stay on deck for more than five minutes at the time. But you could and you did.

           Your favourite moment was at night. Especially when the wind stopped and it felt like there were stars in the sea too. Everywhere you looked they shone and you had never seen so much stars at the same time. It was beautiful, really, and you felt as if you were the smallest grain of sand in an infinity of black.

           The captain seemed to take a liking to you because every night he stood with you under the stars, showing you how to use them to guide yourself across the sea. He showed you the Star of the Sailor, a bright star that indicated where the North was and he taught you how to use a sextant. You were pretty good at it and you even helped him to use it when the night sky was cloudless.

           You felt lucky. If it wasn’t for the captain liking you, you knew the crew wouldn’t be treating you with respect. You could see how some of them looked at you and you knew they wouldn’t want to drink tea with you. Their gazes were undressing you and it made you feel uneasy. But none of them ever approached you.

           To say the captain appreciated you was probably an overstatement. He only talked to you at night, when most of the crew was sleeping under deck. Still, nobody dared approach you in broad daylight so you were thankful for it.

Somewhere in the middle of the third week, the wind died down. The cog stayed unmoving for days, which was making you feel uneasy. It was of ill omen. The provisions were running low and although there was a fisher net with which the sailors could catch some fish, you were forced to start rationing the food. Water was running low too and the North was still nowhere to be seen.

The cog stayed motionless for five days. By the fifth day Tom was feeling almost well, as if he was back on the ground. Unfortunately, by the end of the day, the sky in the west turned black as night and the wind came back. You noticed how the clouds seemed rolling towards you. A storm was coming.

The captain ordered to you and Tom to go back in the cabin and to stay there until the storm had passed. That’s how you found yourself sitting on the bed, your hands in Tom’s, as the boat crashed down waves after waves. At this point you almost felt sick too, because you were scared to die. But you didn’t retch like Tom was, so one could say you were almost doing well.

The wind was howling outside of the cabin and the sea was raging. It felt as if Poseidon was determined to take down that small ship who dared sail his waters in the middle of a storm. The light from the oil lantern kept flickering and you were convinced it was soon going to give out. Your grip on Tom’s hands got a little tighter as the ship crashed down yet another wave. From the inside, it felt as if a giant was holding you in the palm of his hands, shaking you up and down, like one would shake an hourglass in an attempt to stop the course of time.

           Your thoughts went to the ship crew that were all out in the madness. A month ago you would have never dared to think that, but now you were afraid they were going to die. Them dying meant you dying, drowning in the salt water of the Mermaid Sea. You had always been afraid of this sea in particular. Ever since you had sighted the serpent you had been afraid. Although the sailors had taken it as a good omen, somewhere in the back of your mind you had known it wasn’t.

Few were the sailors that dared sail the Mermaid Sea and you understood why as the ship crashed down another wave. You had angered Poseidon when you had chosen to sail on his sea and he was going to make you pay for it.

           There was a loud noise outside of the cabin, the noise of wood breaking. You hoped with all your heart that it wasn’t the mast. Without it, you weren’t going to be able to move forward as fast as you had did up to now. And you had to reach Tom’s kingdom before your father’s army did. For the sake of both of your kingdoms, you had to.

           You watched as Tom’s face seemed paler and paler by the minute. He didn’t like the sea. He had never did. His people were a horse people. They rode their stallions in battles and around the world. That was the way of the Northerners. You were a Southerner, your people sailed the seas on carracks and long ships. Well, you had never been on a ship before, only men were allowed to sail the seas, but you still had it in your blood.

“That storm is going to be the end of us”, he whispered.

           You barely heard him under the sound of the wind and the rain.

“Tom, those pirates know the sea, they’ve sailed it a hundred times before”, you reassured him. “We are going to be just fine.”

           He shook his head.

“You heard what they said.” His voice was stronger now. “It’s of ill omen to let a woman board on a ship. They said it was going to anger Poseidon, they said…”

           You put your finger on his mouth to silence him.

“Tom, the captain doesn’t believe in Poseidon”, you stated. “Only the Northerners and Southerners of the crew do.”

There were voices outside the door. Tom’s eyes were round with fear.

“They are only superstitions”, you added, trying to convince yourself, as the captain and two pirates burst into the cabin.

           They were drippling with water and the ropes around their waists hung heavy. The captain said something in a foreign language, but you recognized the words “woman” and “sacrifice”.

“Don’t you dare”, you said as the two sailors walked towards you. “My father will pay you whatever you want if you bring me on the other side alive.”

“Silence”, said the captain with his deep accent. “Men say woman on ship dangerous. Want sacrifice to Poseidon. Calm the god.”

“No”, shouted Tom as his hands went to the pommel of his sword. Only to be met with emptiness.

           The two sailors pushed him roughly and you lost your grip on his hands. They grabbed you by the arms and dragged you out of the cabin, where two other men were waiting.

           Utter chaos was the outside world. You caught a glimpse of dark clouds before a wave crashed in, the salty water making your eyes burn.

           Maybe you should have been scared. You were going to die. Simple as that. The sailors were following the rules of the universe. Maybe it had been your faith since the day you were born. To be the sacrifice that was going to stop a war. As long as Tom reached the shore, the war could be stopped. But you were just a woman and Poseidon was asking for his price.

           You were lucky the men had been holding you because, when another wave rolled in, you lost your footing and fell. You swallowed some salty water and your throat started to burn. It tasted like fish. What a weird observation for someone that was going to die.

           They brought you toward the front of the boat, toward the bow, which was sculpted like a mermaid, as it plunged down another wave. They were going to throw you overboard, to sacrifice you to the raging waters. You considered fighting, but you knew it was meaningless. They were pirates, they knew how to fight, you had no chance against them.

           You reached the bow as the ship reached the crest of a wave. The world laid there in front of your eyes, but soon enough the tip of the boat leaned down the wave and it started to plunge down. You closed your eyes in time to stop the water from getting into them, but the pirates’ grip on your arms went loose and the wave caught you. You lost your footing and as you were about to scream, water got into your mouth, drowning the sound.

           You got tossed around by the wave, you didn’t even know if you were still on the boat or if you had already been thrown overboard. Your head hit something and your body went limp as you felt your life drain from you. Maybe you were dreaming but you heard some voices. Singing. It was melodious and if you hadn’t been on the verge of dying you would have cried because of the beauty of it all. But your strength was leaving you and your lungs were burning for air. But down where you were, there was no oxygen.

           You felt a hand grab your wrist ever so gently and just when you were about to lose consciousness, you heard a voice in your mind. It said a simple word. Sister.

Read chapter eight here!

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[choicesfanficanonymous]

The Wonder of You

The Wonder of You

The Royal Romance - Drake x MC

Summary: After being married for some months, there is still one thing Drake is keeping from his wife. And she is determined to make him stop holding it back.

Content Warnings: None, this is just silly and fluffy.

Word Count: 2466

Alie’s foot unexpectedly connects with a pair of boots clearly left in the wrong place, making her stumble and almost fall altogether as she makes her way from her closet to her bedroom.

“Shit” she mumbles to herself. Her toes hurt a little from the impact, but it’s not as she has the time to give it any attention. Instead, she focuses on her ears’ reflection on the mirror in an attempt to finish as quickly as possible putting on her earrings. In her mind, Alie promises herself that next time she will start getting ready earlier, and all this crazy rushing and making a mess can be avoided. It’s not the first time she tells herself that, though.

At last, she sighs and steps back to look at herself in the mirror. Looks like everything’s in its place. With her, at least, for she can’t quite ignore the chaotic state of the duchy’s master bedroom reflected behind her figure.

“Wow.” A voice suddenly cuts through the silence of the room.

Turning to look at where the voice came from, she spots her husband, leaning at the door frame with a grin on his face. The gray dress shirt he wore for work accentuates magnificently his broad chest and strong arms, crossed in front of him. She will never get tired of marveling at the sight that is this man.

“Drake! You’re here already!”

He makes an incredulous face. “I texted you fifteen minutes ago saying I was entering the estate.” She can only give him a sorry smile as he approaches her. “Where are we going tonight anyway?”

Alie hides a gigantic smile that threatens to take over her face. She slowly turns her body to him. “Sour Apple… you know, that small pub downtown.” She tries not to show anything in her voice as she speaks.

“The one with the karaoke? Really?” He can’t hold back a slight frown from appearing in his face.

“Yeah, what’s wrong about it?”

“Nothing, it just looks like somewhere Maxwell would choose, not you.”

She doesn’t say a word, but stares at him with her eyebrows shot up.

“Alright, it seems exactly somewhere Maxwell or you would pick for a birthday celebration.” He concedes with an annoyed look.

“Do you not wish to go?” She knew he wouldn’t love the idea, but now she’s afraid he is dreading it.

She can’t tell him her real intentions for choosing that pub. Alie almost feels guilty for preparing a trap for her husband. But ever since she learned about the barbershop quartet he used to be a part of, she practically begged him to sing for her, but he never gave in. So, she had to find the perfect opportunity. And three weeks ago, she devised a plan.

-

“Drake, I can’t believe it!” Alie yells from the kitchen.

The dark haired man appears from the hallway in their estate, only shorts on and barefoot. “What is it?” He had a concerned look on his face.

“Look at that.” She snaps, pointing at the calendar hung up on the wall.

“What is it? I don’t-” He examined the calendar with brows knitted, trying to understand what he is missing.

“It’s been seven months since our marriage, Drake.”

“Oh” He doesn’t know what to say, “I didn’t know we were celebrating-”

She cuts him in again “No, we didn’t plan anything.” She sighs and pretends not to notice the relieved look in his eyes. “I just can’t believe all this time has passed and you still haven’t sung to me.”

“Oh, that again…” He says, closing his eyes and throwing his head back. His wife sure knows how to be insistent. When she hasn’t brought up the subject for months, he truly believed it was finally put to rest. He should have known better.

“Come on Drake… your sister said you were the best of all four. And you know I’ve only heard you guys twice, and it was too quick and in occasions where I couldn’t pay enough attention to it.”, she pleads him.

“Of course she said that, I’m her brother.” His voice grows softer as he steps closer to her and wraps his strong arms around her small frame.

“Anyway, I just can’t understand why, why can’t you sing for your wife?” She pouts. She really hoped he would have no barriers with her now. Maybe it’s a silly thing to dwell on, but Alie wants him to be sure he never have to be insecure with her. She loves him completely.

The duchess doesn’t notice her husband is slowly moving her towards the kitchen counter until she feels her lower back touching the cold stone surface through her robe.

“I will” he speaks softly, moving his body even closer to hers and planting light kisses all over the side of her face, “… eventually.” He finishes, and moves the kissing closer to her mouth.

“You can’t seduce your way out of every subject, Walker.” She presses her palms against his chest, yet barely putting any effort at all to push him away and failing to suppress a smile.

He pulls back just enough to look her in the eyes. “What can I do for you to let it go?” The deep, hungry look in his dark eyes is enough to weaken his wife’s knees. Oh, he knows exactly what he is doing.

“I will never let it go, especially after you just said you’re going to sing to me eventually. But for now…” she pauses, eyeing him up and down and sliding her hands from his chest to his abs, “you can take me to shower.”

-

Drake notices her concern and quickly puts his arms around her waist, bending his head down until their foreheads touch. “Of course I wish to go. It’s your birthday, and anything that makes you happy is worth more than all the gold in this country.”

His words make her smile, and she reaches up to kiss him in the lips. “I love you.”

“And I, you”. He smiles too, as she turns around to take one last glance at herself in the mirror. “Although I would prefer if we stayed here and celebrated only the two of us.” He adds, noticing how beautiful she was in a short yellow dress that showed just enough for his mind to picture the rest of her underneath it.

“Oh, we will.” She forewarns, looking him in the eyes. “But first, let’s have some fun with our friends.”

“Fine.” He grabs her hand in his, pulling her out of their room and down the staircase. “But you’ll have to make it up to me, Walker.”

“If you’re a good boy tonight…” She jokes, thinking about her plans for the evening. Max is almost as excited as her, but Liam is still skeptic his friend would agree to sing alone in front of all of them. Even after several shots of whiskey. “And it’s Smoak-Walker and you know it.” She finishes while he helps her get in the car that’ll take them to her celebration.

-

They are sitting for two hours now in a round table that’s too big compared with the small pub it’s in. Drinks never stopped coming, so all of them are already a bit tipsy, some more than others.

Max had just told a joke that made Alie cry of laughter before a wrinkle appears between Drake’s brows as he looks around. “Where did Liam go?”

Alie looked around too, she didn’t see him leave the table. The pub is small and there aren’t too many people, so it is reason enough to be concerned that the king is missing. Drake’s vision is slightly blurred to begin a search party out of nowhere, and he reassures himself that there is no need to worry, for Bastien has the pub secured with a couple of guards. He decides it’s best to go have a word with Bas, but before he can get up, Hana suddenly begins giggling. Alie, Drake and Max look at her, questioning looks on their faces.

“Oh I’m sorry.” Hana’s cheeks are already flushed from the alcohol, but now they seem to have gotten even more flushed. “Liam went to the bathroom.” She lowers her tone, clearly forcing a serious face.

They all nod at her but still keep looking at her, a bit confused by her behaviour. Alie finds it obvious that she is hiding something and she can’t hold herself back. “Do you need to speak in private, Hana?”

“Oh no, it’s just…” Everybody stares at Hana and she looks back at them like a deer in the middle of the road looking at the shining lights of a vehicle approaching fast. She finally sighs and speaks up “Fine. Liam said he was going to the bathroom but walked towards that hallway in the other side of the pub.” She points to a dim-lighted entrance at the side. “… one minute after Olivia had done the same.” She concludes.

Maxwell’s jaw drops and Alie stifles her own giggles with her hand.

“I’ll drink to that.” Drake’s voice cuts the awkward silence that came up between the friends. He grabs his glass with a smirk on his face and takes another sip of his whiskey, rising his other arm to rest behind Alie’s shoulders.

“Really?” Alie looks up at him. She thought Drake would be a little more reluctant to Liam and Olivia. Of course they knew something was going on, but Drake was always making sarcastic comments about the duchess and talking about their friends’ dates as if it is something temporary. Alie would say he was in some sort of denial. Maybe he finally accepted Liam and Olivia are a great match. Or there’s already enough alcohol in his system. Realizing what that means, she meets Maxwell’s gaze and they both share a knowing look.

“So,” Max begins, “who wants to sing in the karaoke?”

As if summoned, Olivia and Liam instantly reappear at the table, avoiding each other’s gaze, but their flushed faces and the small, almost unnoticeable red lipstick stain on the corner of Liam’s lips betrays them.

Drake has just opened his mouth to make a snarky remark, but, knowing his friend all too well and judging by the look in his eyes, Liam decides to cut him in before any words can be said. “Did I hear karaoke? Who’s singing?”

“Come with me, Drake!” Max stands up, grabbing Drake’s hand, which he instantly jerks away.

“No way, Beaumont.” He doesn’t move, instead takes another sip of his drink.

“I’ll go, Max.” Alie stands up, feeling bold. If she’s gonna make Drake sing, she’s got to play with all her cards.

Once they reach the small stage, Max start picking up a song. “Ooh, I got the perfect one” He says, handing her a mic. “I love duets!”

She laughs, and the song starts playing.

“All my life has been a series of doors in my face And then suddenly I bump into you”

Drake looks at his wife with adoration while she and Max keep on singing and dancing animatedly. She is indeed breathtaking. What did she see in him? Why does she love him? He brushes the thought aside, knowing very well he shouldn’t question fate, especially when it grants him with so much more than he’d ever dreamed of asking for.

“With you With you With you With you Love is an open door”

The song finishes and the few people at the pub, apart from their friends, clap and cheer while they make their way back to the table.

“You were great, baby.” Drake encircles her waist and roughly pulls her to sit across his lap. He is definitely drunk enough.

“Well, I think now…” She moves her fingers over his stubble. “you can be a good boy by granting me a birthday wish.” She smirks at him.

“And what is that?” He looks in her eyes, only to find mischievous ones looking at him. His face falls and he pulls back from her. “What, you don’t want me to-”

“Please, Drake! There’s only your friends here… and those hippie kids or whatever over there. For me?” She makes her best puppy eyes at him. This is it, she thinks. It’s now or never.

She keeps staring at his eyes until he says something. “You better make it up to me for a whole month, Walker.”

Surprised with how little she had to beg and scared of him changing his mind, she doesn’t say a word, only beams with joy, eyes wide open, swiftly sliding off of his lap as he gets up from his seat.

All of their friends cheer while Drake makes his way to the small stage. He gets there and spends a moment choosing his song. Alie can’t help but to squirm with anticipation.

Finally, music starts playing and Drake takes his place in the center of the stage, grabbing the mic and looking directly at his wife.

“When no one else can understand me When everything I do is wrong You give me hope and consolation You give me strength to carry on”

If it’s even possible, Alie falls in love with the man singing these words. Her husband. She already loves him inexplicably so, and now she could swear her heart is ready to combust at any given second. Even with all the whisky he’s had, his voice manages to stay on pitch and is so, so beautiful. She’s not the only one to notice that, as she looks around her for a brief second, she can see awe in her friends’ eyes and some eyebrows raised up in appreciation among the strangers’ faces.

“I guess I’ll never know the reason why You love me as you do That’s the wonder, the wonder of you”

Not able to discern whether it’s the alcohol, simply the words to the song, or the fact that her husband is singing to her - even in front of several other people - with emotion almost audible through the speakers, but tears start falling from her eyes.

The song ends and Drake hears the people cheering and clapping, but his eyes are fixated on her. His legs are wobbly, probably from the alcohol as well as his nervousness about singing alone in front of people. Yet, he makes a straight line to his wife, their eyes never leaving each other’s, until her hands reach for him, locking behind his neck.

Her eyes are glued to him, and in a minute that seems like eternity, if feels as though there is only them in the dim-lighted pub. Her heart is his, and his, hers, completely. Forever. And Drake realizes he doesn’t need to know why.

[browniefox]

The Dark and Light Side of the Moon 12

A Pro No Evens of @trulymightypotato‘s Royal Expectations au

Gar wakes up to some visitors in ‘his’ room

Matpat and others put some things together

oOo

“Alright, so it looks like this one here is moon-”

“- this part obviously has origins to common summoning spells-”

“- yes yes, I remember researching that during the wars-”

Gar groaned a bit as he woke up, shifting around uncomfortably. His mouth taste horrible. He’d never really enjoyed the taste of human blood, especially out of his wolf form. If only he’d been able to stay awake long enough to clean out his mouth. He grimaced, and then the grimace worsened upon feeling the dried blood around his mouth crackle and flake.

“Ah, he’s awake.”

Gar sat up and turned to see Violetscale on the ground next to a man he didn’t recognize. They were surrounded by books and parchment like a nest, seemingly random scribblings maring the scattered notes. Violetscale gave him a kind smile while the stranger stood up, looking over Gar curiously.

“I’ve heard much about you. Garuku Bluemoon, correct? I am Terrel Cai, Noble of the Second District.” He precariously stepped over the wall of parchment and held out a hand. Gar shook it kindly. “You’ll be glad to hear that Violetscale here and I are currently seeing what we can do for your problem.”

“Thank you.” Gar climbed out of bed, wiping off the dried blood the best he could. “Do you… know everything about my situation?”

“Uh, well, Violetscale and Snow thought it’d be best if I knew so… yes?”

Gar sighed. He wasn’t angry though, or upset. He found no joy in retelling his tragic tale repeatedly, and it was the smartest move to make. Terrel looked a bit nervous, shifting from foot to foot.

“Don’t worry, you should know what you’re dealing with. I don’t bite.” Violetscale from where they were muffled a laugh as a cough. “Not normally at least, I promise.”

“You didn’t… eat the man, did you?” Terrel asked almost jokingly.

“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t cross my mind.” Gar admitted. “But don’t worry, while he’s in no state to be too much trouble any time soon, he’s still in one piece.”

“While you were asleep there was another attempt.” Violetscale commented. “The assassin was trying to kill Larkspur again, but not only was he surrounded by guards, Edel and Agora were on their way over too. He’s currently in the dungeon, suffering from some rather serious wounds. Agora was a bit overzealous in defending the royalty.”

“How is the researching going?” Gar asked, glancing over at the piles that even now Violetscale was shuffling through.

“Decently well I’d think.” Terrel nodded down. “I was able to bring some useful books, and Violetscale is able to rule out the ones that we can and can’t use. When this is all over, I’d love to just sit down with them and hear about all the years they’ve been through. To live to be so old must come with so many amazing experiences!”

“It does.” Gar nodded.

“Oh, if I wasn’t so busy I’d love to ask you about your life! It must be so much different than ours, a glimpse into another world, a warped mirror of our own future.” Terrel looked almost like he’d forget his work and simply ask questions right there, so eager for new information.

“Edelweiss and Larkspur wanted to talk to you when you woke up.” Violetscale said before Terrel’s excitement grew any more.

“They know.” It wasn’t a question. How could at least Edel not know after seeing him turn from wolf into a man.

“Snow saw fit to explain what was going on.” Violetscale nodded. “It’s been long overdue for them to know.”

“I know.” Gar sighed, running a hand through his hair anxiously. “Any idea where they would be?”

“Check Larkspur’s room.” Violetscale suggested. “I know they wanted to remain close together.”

“Thank you.” Gar nodded to them.

It was only once he was out in the hallway that he realized he didn’t know where Lark’s room was. Luckily he wasn’t left wandering around the castle for too long. It became obvious very quickly which room the young heir lived in. It was the only one with six guards standing next to the door while a few others patrolled the nearby halls. One of them almost attacked him before ‘recognizing’ Gar and letting him pass.

Lark was sitting on his bed, Snow next to him and going through what looked to be geography books. Edel was staring out the window, apparently deep in thought, and Agora stood right next to the door, sword currently at Gar’s neck.

“Gar, you’re awake.” Snow looked up from the book to Gar, and slowly Agora’s sword was lowered and re-sheathed. All four pairs of eyes watched him as he entered the room, making Gar question why he had even come here.

“Yes. Violetscale said that Edel and Lark wanted to talk to me.” Lark immediately hopped up excitedly, running over to Gar.

“Why didn’t I get to see you turn into a wolf? That must’ve been so cool! You’re like a story, a really cool story!” Lark was practically vibrating with excitement.

“Thanks.” Gar smiled a bit.

“We… Snow told us about the world you’re actually from.” Edel said, addressing the elephant in the room. Snow, who had climbed off the bed shortly after Lark, stepped closer to Gar. Gar forced himself to breath evenly. He hadn’t done anything wrong here, they just knew his past. It would be okay.

“A demon.” The word, spoken by Agora, was like a small dagger thrown towards Gar. But it didn’t quite strike him. The Protector’s eyes showed they regarded Gar as a strong being, but not a complete threat. That, at least, was good.

“I used to be.” Gar corrected. “That was a few years ago. The Realms gave me this second chance as the Protector of the Queen. As I’m sure you can see Edel, I’m no longer able to use its power.” He had noticed the way she looked deeply into him, he knew what that stare meant.

“That’s so cool!” Lark’s eyes were sparkling.

“Did you really live for a thousand years?’ Edel asked. She was looking at him with such a blank expression, hiding everything beneath it. “Away from those who’d care for you, forced to work for the Empire, to never join with your own nobles again?”

“The only one by my side was Snow, and even then was only occasionally as he continued to serve the Realms.”

“That,” Edel voice cracked a bit as she blinked furiously. “That must’ve been hard. Did you really… never get to even see me?”

“I never learned your name. You were three years old when I first learned you even existed.” He admitted.

He was surprised when the girl ran over and embraced him. Her hands balled into fists, gripping the back of his shirt tightly. He didn’t hesitate in returning the gesture, though a bit confused.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about it. How horrible it must be. Outliving your children, and your grandchildren, until the blood from you to them is so thin that you really have no family. The only creatures that would accept you being the ones that tore you down.” She pulled him even tighter. “It must’ve been Hell.”

“Hell was Hell,” Gar gave a humorless chuckle. “That was just my retribution for my failure.”

“You did great.” She mumbled into his chest.

Gar hated himself for crying at this moment.

He’d have to give this up.

oOo

Matpat’s hand hovered over the hilt.

JP had said it’d be okay, but that didn’t make him any less nervous. He’d read tales of the Sword of the Final Prince, Tapestry, The Blade of the Changing Lands. Of course, when Matpat had first read them he’d thought they just stories, myths. Obviously, they were much more than that.

“Don’t worry, this Tapestry is very nice.” JP encouraged. He was aware that everybody in the room - JP, Wade, Bluescale, Jason, Amile, and Static - was watching him to see what would happen. They’d heard what’d happened when Lozul had tried to hold the other Tapestry. A surge of encouragement flushed through him as Jason put his hand on his shoulder. Matpat grabbed the hilt.

He blinked in surprise.

It was rather sudden, instantaneos even as the world suddenly disappeared from him and was replaced with lines, strings, a fabric-like reality. Tapestry was replaced by a myriad of blue threads, a few of which snaked over a white-and-turquoise. His arm, Matpat realized in a moment. Curiously, he looked around the room. Six other masses of white yarn greeted him, accented with different shades of blue. None were entirely one blue, each having hints of another in the room. The royal-blue of the sword was repeated twice in the people. Unconnected to any white was a floating mass of pale blue with an impossibly lighter blue and royal blue running along it.

“Whoa.” Matpat breathed.

“I know, isn’t it cool?” The cluster of white and neon blue - JP - said excitedly. “Okay, so this is what I wanted to show you.” He pointed to a single string from the Tapestry in Matpat’s hand. Matpat follow it as it traveled to Lozul, making its way to the thickest mound of royal blue in him.

“It’s tied to him.”

“Which is really weird,” JP continued, “Since mine isn’t connected to Gar OR me, so it’s not something it usually does. But that’s not all. Check this out.” JP got closer to Lozul and Matpat followed suit. Slipping around the Royal’s fabric was an identically colored string. It was thicker though, sturdy and strong, almost like a rope. It didn’t seem to go anywhere though, just faded off.

“Interesting.” Matpat looked around. None of the other threads seemed to fade.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. I mean, it looks like Wade, in the sense that it shows the magic of the Realms bound to him, but Wade’s goes back to the land. Not like this.”

“Wait, let me see.” Lozul took Tapestry from Matpat and the Noble reeled back in shock of suddenly no longer seeing the magic. “It… I don’t think it usually looks like that.”

No, it definitely doesn’t. Snow murmured, floating around Lozul curiously.

“Very odd indeed.” Bluescale looking like she was reaching out to touch something, brow furrowed. “I’ve seen magic looking like it was cut before, but this… I’d almost say it looks like it’s going somewhere else.”

“Like he’s still connected to the Changing Lands.” Matpat closed his eyes, trying to keep the memory of what it’d looked like in his head.

“But why the connection between him and Tapestry?” Wade asked.

“Lozul, is there anyway you could… ask, Tapestry, why its connected to you?” JP was still staring where the string should be.

“But It’s a sword.” Static said, confused. “You don’t actually mean… okay just how sentient is this sword.”

“It’s doesn’t normally talk, not really with words, but mine at least gives a certain feel with opinions and such.” JP explained. “Well? Does it know?”

“I’m not getting much.” Lozul frowned.

“Let me see again.” Matpat reached to take JP’s - and jerked away at what felt like being stabbed, hand covered in criss-crossing little slices.

“Sorry!” JP pulled his Tapestry closer. “It really doesn’t like people!”

“Here.” Lozul held out his Tapestry to Matpat and then took his hand. Matpat was able to watch as the Royal’s thread encased his hand, knitting the skin back together.

“Do you mind if I…?” Matpat set his hand on Lozul’s chest as he looked closely at the other’s core, where the string from Tapestry led. “Lozul, do you usually have a bit of green?”

“What?” Lozul snatched his Tapestry back, frantically looking down at himself.

“Let me see!” JP ran over, staring.

No longer holding Tapestry, Matpat was able to see just how weird it looked, JP’s nose touching Lozul’s shirt, squinting.

“If I were to give a guess, it has to do with what sent you here.” Matpat mused.

“I still don’t understand why it would connect me to Tapestry?” The beginnings of frustration were entering Lozul’s voice.

“Unless it worked through Tapestry to get to you. But what could do that?”

“I…” Bluescale’s eyes were darting around, connecting dots that Matpat couldn’t see. “I think I may have an idea what. None of you are going to like it.”

[siodymph]

Boombox Week Day 7: Steampunk AU

And here we are! The last prompt for Boombox week! After a bit of thinking I decided to go with a Steampunk AU, cause I mean, who doesn't like seeing Lucio and Junkrat all dressed up in suites and ties and gears and stuff?

Also I have to give my sincerest thanks for everyone whose read, liked and commented on all my stuff this week. I had absolutely no idea how this week was going to go and it mean so much to me that many folks liked it! So thank you everybody and I hope you like any other boombox prompts or fan-weeks I do in the near future along with my other stories!

As always you can check out this last prompt under the cut or over on my AO3!

(One last thing! Don't forget I'm still taking Boombox requests (no NSFW) until the 22nd! So if there's any stories you want to see with you're favorite music nerd and trash nerd just let me know and they will be added to this series soon!)

Junkrat loved watching Lucio get ready for his performances. Sheet music spread across the floor like paper tiles. Hundreds of instruments from piccolos to grand bases all suspended on rigs, every single one tuned to perfection by one of the finest ears this side of… well anywhere. All morning hums, trills, claps, and all sorts of beautiful sound would echo out from Lucio’s room down the halls of the Overwatch Headquarters. And then there was the man himself, hopping from one piece to another, Lucio became a little ball of energy as he prepared his amazing machine. Such excitement and life. Not to mention the special three-piece suit he only wore for his special performances. The stark black paired with vibrant greens and yellows always made Lucio look like a million bucks. And he clearly knew it as he strutted about his room, making his final tweaks to his machine before packaging it up for his performance today.

Today would possibly one of his biggest shows yet. For they were heading to Numbani for this year’s World Fair. Several of Overwatch’s members were presenting their latest inventions and research. And as well as presenting his work on the healing properties of sound, Lucio had been asked to perform his music using his stellar One-Man Philharmonic Orchestra. He’d been honored to perform and now the day had finally arrived.

Junkrat himself had not been invited to perform or present but he didn’t really care. City-folk could have all the dumb festivals they wanted! Though part of him couldn’t help but feel a tad jealous, he was pretty sure he could give one hell of a presentation on making bombs from literal scraps and even more powerful than the stuffy factory-made crap everyone else on the field used.

Oh well, at least this meant he didn’t have to doll himself up nearly as much as everyone else. While he certainly loved seeing Lucio I his three-piece suit and top hat he hated the look on himself, way too stuffy for his liking. No sir, he’d take his overall over some Suit’s suit any day. But despite his protest, Symmetra and Mei insisted he wash, comb his hair free of soot, and trade his overalls for a real pair of trousers before he was deemed “presentable” for such a monumental occasion such as the World Fair. At least it wasn’t a full suit, he kept telling himself. He might have been wearing a vest and tie, but it still wasn’t quite a full-suit. He’d managed to keep that line drawn with the architect and meteorologist.

Honestly he couldn’t see what the big deal was. Scientists and Inventors were some of the sloppiest people he knew. Yet when it comes time for any big showcase suddenly everyone is scrubbed clean and forced to use manners? Rat’s best guess was that all the snobby high-society folks who funded the fair couldn’t stand to have their fickle little sensibilities insulted, or whatever steam was trapped between their ears.

But since money makes the world keep turning, Junkrat decided he would make do for at least one day, especially if it meant his Lucio would be giving his most honorable performance yet. So even while feeling slightly claustrophobic in his vest and tight pants and uncomfortable without his normal layer of dust, he found himself smiling watching his boyfriend prepare for his big show. He was nearly finished with his cart of stringed instruments when he finally turned around to Junkrat.

“Does everything sound alright to you, Jamison?”

Junkrat closed his eyes, listening to all the strings play suddenly in unison not a single sour note higher or lower than the rest. “Sounds beautiful, love. This concert’s gonna be perfect… You alright? Not feeling nervous or anything.”

“Just a little.” Lucio said smirking. Cheeky little bastard, probably had never felt nervous a single day in his life. It certainly never showed in the way he always held his head high and proud.

With that all of his equipment was tuned and ready to go. Junkrat knew he was going to have to re-tune everything once they got there. When he’d questioned Lucio about it once, why not just tune everything when they got there, Lucio explained about how the new space could change the sound too much and Junkrat just took his word for it. Whatever made him happiest.

Junkrat grabbed one of the rigs of trombones. “So you ready to start packing all this up?”

“Yeah, you don’t mind helping?” He knelt down and began stacking all his sheet music scattered about. “I just need to get all this organized then I can help you.”

“Rodger that!” He said with a mock salute. And he could resist stopping to peck his boyfriend on the cheek while leaving with the first rig.

With the two of them working together they easily got all of Lucio’s Philharmonic rigs and machinery all onto Tracer’s airship with the rest of the team. And before Junkrat knew it they were off. Sailing high above the city of Gibraltar, across the skies to West Africa.

Junkrat had a loved flying. On one hand there was the beautiful feeling of being so close to the sky, cutting through the clouds and flying up into the royal blue of the sky. But then on the other hand was whenever he accidentally looked down. Before Overwatch he and Roadhog never left the ground much, only traveling by motor bike, train or boat if the situation called for it. And when everything got real tiny and itty-bitty, it reminded Junkrat of ants all scurrying about. It was absolutely glorious.

And while his gaze was completely held by the view outside the window of the airship, he could feel Lucio’s hand in his slowly rubbing over his knuckles again and again.

~~~

They arrived in Numbani a little past 10’O’clock and from the looks of it, the World Fair was already in full swing. Rows upon rows of booths and tents were decorated with colorful banners in every language advertising new inventions and shows. Smells of food wafted into Junkrat’s nose making his mouth water. He had no idea what anything was but judging by smell alone there were already a few stands he knew he would sneak off to visit later for sure. Everywhere he looked there were gears churning, engines singing, and steam, glorious steam pumping and hissing out of any crevice it could find along pipes and in-between metal plates. Now this was what Junkrat called a World Fair.

He followed Lucio towards the very center of the fair, at the heart of the city, Museum. Right in front of the historic sight a colossal stage had been constructed and all around it a sea of people milled about waiting to see the next show. From the sound of it, it seemed like most of the crowd had already heard of Lucio and were excited to see his One-Man Philharmonic Orchestra in person. He continued to follow Lucio further back behind the stage where all of his equipment lay hidden under its covers.

And just like clockwork, Lucio went back to hopping about, fine-tuning every rig’s instruments and scanning over his sheet music.

But something seemed off. While normally he looked so pumped-up he seemed to move more quietly. He wasn’t humming either. Not even cocking his ear to the side like he usually did when he tuned his instruments. He took off his hat and began rather aggressively running his fingers through his hair. That’s when he notice Lucio’s hands trembling ever so slightly as they moved from dial to dial.

“Wait a tick,” He stepped behind Lucio and gently pulled him away from the rig. “What’s wrong, love?”

At first he didn’t say anything and Junkrat feared he’d misread Lucio’s actions but then he spun around and gave an angry huff. “Everything is going to be fine. I know everything will work perfectly. It’s just… Ugghhh! This is so dumb!”

“Hey don’t sweat it! Happen’s to the best of us!” Junkrat said quickly, wrapping Lucio in a hug. He was caught off guard when Lucio hugged him back. Tightly. He wasn’t sure exactly what Lucio was talking about but he still wanted to reassure him everything would be fine. He still couldn’t believe that after, what? Hundreds of concerts and shows?, he was just now starting to get pre-show jitters. “Heh, if you ask me, everyone out there’s already decided they love ya mate. You could do absolute shit and they’d still be applauding.”

That got a tiny laugh out of Lucio and he relaxed his hold on his boyfriend’s crushed ribs. “I won’t sound like shit though… This is going to be fine.”

“It will be.” Junkrat agreed.

“The Orchestra is going to work perfectly.”

“Of course it will.”

“And nothing is going to happen that I can’t already fix.”

Junkrat hummed a little. “How’bout a kiss good luck to top it off?”

When Junkrat leaned down almost immediately warm lips were pressed against his. They moved slightly but didn’t delve any further beyond a short but sweet kiss. As they separated, Junkrat grabbed Lucio’s hat and plopped it back onto its rightful place on Lucio’s head.

“Knock’em dead, Beautiful!”

Together along with several workers at the fair, they unveiled all of Lucio’s amazing machine and began wheeling each rig up onto the now empty stage. As all the pieces began clicking into place Junkrat stepped back to admire the beauty of it all. Seldom did he ever see Lucio’s machine completely put together and not just in tiny rigs and pieces. Taking up all the space on stage, the rigs formed a half-circle like a classic orchestra set-up. But instead of hundreds of musicians, there were thousands of pipes, levers, mallets like a complicated maze of bronze and gold. And all the bits and pieces lead to the very center of the machine, where instead of a Maestro’s podium, there was an Organ with three layers of keys for the hands and two for the feet. The complete One-Man Philharmonic Orchestra. Besides his healing songs, his pride and joy, his life’s work.

The crowd cheered as Lucio stepped on stage. He almost seemed to dance with how lightly he moved across the floor before giving a graceful bow to the crowd and sitting down at the organ. Then he began to play. And the entire World Fair became enraptured by the joyous, unifying, beautiful music of Lucio and his amazing One-Man Philharmonic Orchestra.

~~~

Overwatch’s time at the World Fair had been a smashing success. Members of the scientific community from Medicine to Meteorology and beyond were enamored by the research being conducted by the team. And now hours later the team had regrouped and was enjoying the end of their evening on one of the world’s oldest preserved Farris wheel and while it wasn’t the world’s largest it certainly was huge. Each cart was large enough to hold an entire party and took a few hours to ride full circle. Junkrat and Lucio found themselves sitting side by side and looking out a window at the fair far below them. As day turned to night, the steam really got pumping and the whole area became aglow with electric light. From high above in the Farris wheel the World Fair almost seemed pristine and painted as it grew so bright it out-shined even the stars in the night sky.

It’s was all beautiful, and having Lucio right there by his side made it ever more perfect.

And judging from the head resting on his shoulder Lucio agreed. Still though the moments just before his boyfriend’s performance left a pinprick of worry in him. He’d never seen Lucio like that before. And now that things had settled from the excitement of the day, he couldn’t help but ask.

“Hey Lucio?”

“Hm?” His voice replied sleepily from his shoulder.

“Earlier today you got kinda strange. Right before your show?”

“Yeah I know.” He sighed, lifting himself off his shoulder and stretching his arms high above his head. “Happens sometimes, I thought by now I’d grown out of it but I guess not. I don’t know why I get like that, I know my shows turn out fine. And I know what to do just in case they don’t.”

“Maybe it’s just like a nervous tick? No problem with that, I got loads of’em. One for every occasion.” He teased

Lucio shrugged, looking out the window and down at the Ferris wheel churning below them. “I guess… Still, it’s kinda annoying how it just suddenly happens when I don’t expect it.”

“Well whenever it happens again, I hope you know I’m always there for you. And I’ll help you sort shit out if I can. Also if you ever-“

“Rat stop. Look.” Lucio suddenly cut him off, sitting up rod-straight and pointing down at the Ferris wheel.

There crawling up the sides of the Ferris wheel like roaches Junkrat spotted them. Men wearing all-black skin-tight stockings and coats, covering their faces were these gas masks and there was a strange red and white T-shaped emblem on the sleeves of their jackets. Talon.

Lucio shouted over his shoulder to the rest of their team. “Hey guys! Looks like Talon ain’t giving us a holiday!”

All at once the Overwatch team jumped to action, preparing themselves for the inevitable attack, making improvised weapons from broken bottles or hair pieces. Junkrat began rapidly making some improve moltov cocktail from some extra bottles. These wouldn’t make as big of a boom as he’d prefer but they’d get the job done. Junkrat turned to Lucio and realized he was weaponless, all his healing equipment was back on the ground. “Oy froggy! You gonna be alright?”

“As long as you got my back, Rat. And thanks.” Lucio leaned in closer pecking him on the shoulder, at his full height Junkrat towered over his partner.

“Any time love!”

Several Talon spies were upon their cart then, still not realizing their attack had been compromised. Junkrat couldn’t help but cackle wickedly at the poor bastard as he set his first cocktail aflame. Showtime.

[theshadowedqueen82]

After the Winter, 2.1k, Gen.

Written for Day 7 of @asgorelove‘s Asgore Appreciation Week, for the prompt Free. Also on Ao3.

Being on the surface was nice, in many ways. Frisk had missed the sun and the stars when they were underground, and she couldn’t imagine what it must be like for the monsters. But even though so much had improved, there was still one downside to living aboveground.

Frisk was now back in school.

“Frisk, come here,” Toriel ordered after class had ended. There were some perks to school, like having your Mom as the teacher. But despite that it was still school, which was rather boring after you’d fought battles that determined the fate of all monsters and humanity; Frisk was glad for the school day to end.

“Today Undyne will pick you up,” Toriel said, planting a kiss on the top of Frisk’s head. “Call me whenever you get home, alright?”

“Yes, Mama,” Frisk said, hugging Toriel before picking up her backpack and heading out.

Since Toriel was a teacher she had to stay at school longer, so they had a system where somebody else would take Frisk home and watch her until Toriel got home. Usually Papyrus volunteered regardless of whether he had Captain of the Royal Guard duties that day. Sans didn’t have a license but could ride a two seater bicycle remarkably fast, and occasionally Mettaton took Frisk home in a limo (they usually spent the evenings playing Dance Dance Revolution). Alphys was too nervous to get her license but Undyne was happy to take Frisk home (Toriel had banned them from the kitchen).

But today was different, because when Frisk walked into the parking lot Undyne was not there; instead Asgore was standing next to the school doors looking profoundly out of place with his massive stature and horns tall enough that he needed to duck to fit in doorways. He towered well over everybody else and Frisk was relieved to see that he’d opted out of his full royal regalia and instead was wearing overalls and a plaid shirt.

“Dad!” Frisk said, running towards Asgore and throwing her arms around him. He looked surprised but bent down to return the embrace.

“Undyne said that she was busy tonight,” Asgore said. “Would you mind if I took you home instead?”

“Sounds great!” Frisk said, grabbing his paw. “Let’s go!”

Asgore drove a red pickup truck, a cherry red under a couple of layers of dirt. It was not the sort of vehicle one would expect a king to drive, but it suited Asgore perfectly.

“Undyne will come to replace me,” Asgore told Frisk, adjusting his mirror and backing out of the parking lot carefully. “I’m just watching you until she arrives.”

“I don’t mind,” said Frisk. “I like it when you watch me.” It doesn’t usually happen hung unspoken in the air between them. Toriel had not been the most forgiving when it came to Asgore.

“So, what do you usually do?” Asgore asked, and Frisk shrugged.

“Undyne usually wants to play laser tag or something,” she said. Although usually ‘laser tag’ turned into ‘run for your life’.

“Would you like to do that?” Asgore asked and Frisk shook her head.

“Not really. I usually only do it because Undyne really enjoys it.”

“What would you enjoy?” Frisk furrowed her brow in thought, and a devious smile spread across her face.

“Would you like to play a board game?” she asked.

“If that’s what you’d like to do,” he replied, not a trace of worry in his voice. “I’m afraid that I haven’t played any of these board games previously, so you will have to instruct me.”

“No problem at all,” Frisk said, grinning from ear to ear. This is going to be a lot of fun.

“What happens if I land here?” Asgore asked, carefully maneuvering his top hat so that he didn’t accidentally knock over all the game pieces with his large fingers. Frisk cackled and rubbed her hands together.

“You’ve landed on one of my properties,” she said. “Which means that you now owe me…” she made a show of checking the property cards, knowing that she’d already made a fortune off of this turn. “Two hundred twenty dollars,” she declared, and Asgore raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Really? That much?” he said. “But I thought the house only brought the price up to eighty dollars.”

“Yes, but I added another house,” Frisk explained. “That means that you owe more.”

“I see,” Asgore said with a sage nod, pulling out his bills and counting them out. “Here you go, then. I’m afraid that I only have one blue bill left now.”

“Yes,” Frisk cackled. “Soon you will be bankrupt, and I will rule supreme!” She rolled the dice and tensed as one landed on a four and the second wobbled between the three and six. Please not three, please not three, please-

Unheeding to her telepathic pleas, the dice tipped over with the three facing up. Frisk groaned and moved her tiny dog forward.

“Oh, I see you’ve landed on my properties again!” Asgore said, and Frisk sighed and handed him a wad of cash. Asgore had only bought the yellow and pink properties (because he thought they were pretty) and had hardly improved them, and yet by a fiendish stroke of luck Frisk would land on at least three of his properties every time she went around the board. Which meant that Asgore had staved off bankruptcy for another turn.

“Don’t feel so bad,” Asgore told her. “I’m sure that you’ll win next time around.”

“Nobody’s ever lasted this long against me in Monopoly,” Frisk said, glaring at the board for it’s treasonous tendencies. As a matter of fact, Undyne had gotten so upset the sixth time Frisk beat her in Monopoly that she had banned the game from the house while she was watching Frisk. The rest of her friends didn’t resort to measures quite as drastic but it was a general consensus among them that Frisk should not play Monopoly, ever.

“It’s just a matter of luck,” Asgore said. “If you want to, we could do something else. This is just a silly game.”

“Oh, no you don’t,” Frisk said. “I have never lost a game of Monopoly and I don’t intend to now. Your turn.” Asgore gave Frisk a look that was equal parts concern and exasperation. “Don’t worry, Dad,” Frisk said. “I don’t mind, really. It’s been a while since I’ve had an actual challenge in this game.”

“Very well,” Asgore said, picking up the dice again.

The game had finished in Frisk’s victory, and Asgore declared that they had to celebrate with Frisk’s favourite meal. So now they were standing in front of the oven and staring at the frozen pizza inside, hoping that it would magically cook itself without their intervention.

“Maybe we’re doing this wrong,” Frisk said after ten minutes had passed and the pizza hadn’t changed. “What temperature did the instructions say the pizza should be at?”

“Instructions?” Asgore said with a frown. “There weren’t any instructions, were there?”

“Yeah,” Frisk said, turning to stare at him. “They were on the back of the box.”

“Oh.” They both turned to stare at the trash can where Asgore had thrown the pizza box. “I think that we can manage this without the instructions, don’t you?” Asgore said, and Frisk shook her head.

“I really don’t think so,” she said. “Maybe we should get the box out of the garbage.”

“That would be very unsanitary,” Asgore said. “I cannot allow you to do such a thing. You have baked pizza before, have you not? Perhaps you could apply your expertise to this situation.”

“I don’t know,” Frisk said, frowning at the oven. “I guess we could turn it up a little, right? As long as we’re here watching it, we can’t exactly burn it.” Asgore nodded encouragingly and Frisk reached up the dial and twisted it.

Since they were there watching the pizza closely they had a perfect view of the black smoke that soon engulfed it. “Dad, I don’t think that there’s supposed to be that much smoke,” Frisk said.

“Well, perhaps this is a different type of pizza,” Asgore said. “One requiring more smoke.”

“You’ve never cooked a pizza before, have you,” Frisk realised with horror. “There’s not supposed to be any smoke at all.”

“Oh,” said Asgore, his eyes widening in panic. He looked around for a moment before simply turning off the oven and watching it intently.

“Um, shouldn’t we do something else?” Frisk asked, and Asgore shook his head.

“This way we’ve trapped it,” he said. “It will just go out on it’s own.” Despite his uncertain tone Asgore appeared to be correct, as the smoke slowly dwindled. Once they were reasonably sure there was no fire Asgore cautiously opened the oven door and pulled out a blackened husk that Frisk could only assume began life as a frozen pizza.

“I guess we should have taken the plastic wrap off,” Asgore said with a laugh, and Frisk joined in.

“I can open all the windows if you dispose of the evidence,” Frisk offered, and Asgore agreed. After he took a quick trip out to the alley to dump the attempted pizza the smell of smoke was already clearing from the kitchen.

“Now, are you still hungry?” Asgore asked, Frisk nodded. “I’m sure that we can figure out how to do this properly the second time around.”

“Of course,” Frisk said with a nod. They both stared at each other for a moment before they burst out laughing.

“I’ll order a pizza,” Asgore said, pulling out his phone.

They were just finishing up their second pizza when they heard the jingling of keys outside the door. Asgore stood and motioned for Frisk to grab the plates while he went to the door. She had almost put them all in the dishwasher when she realised that Toriel was the only one other then herself with keys.

“It’s not what you think,” Asgore was saying when Frisk bolted into the living room. Toriel was staring at Asgore in shock and he was holding out his hands in front of him, either to pacify her or protect himself.

“Wait, Mom,” Frisk said, putting herself between the two monsters. “It’s okay, really. We had a nice time.”

“Wasn’t Undyne supposed to watch you tonight?” Toriel asked, and Asgore nodded while Frisk shook her head. She rose one eyebrow in an expression so fierce that Asgore actually took a step backwards.

“Undyne was busy tonight,” Asgore said, and Frisk cleared her throat.

“Actually, we… um, planned this together,” she said. Both of her parents looked at her and Frisk smiled apologetically at them. “I’m sorry, but you wouldn’t let Dad watch me,” she said to Toriel. “And I like spending time with him. So yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have gone behind your back, but you weren’t even open to letting him watch me.”

“He tried to kill you,” Toriel said, and Asgore looked down.

“Yeah, but so did Undyne!” said Frisk. “And Papyrus tried to capture me, and even you fought me. Pretty much every monster I met I fought. And you still let me hang out with everybody else, so… maybe you shouldn’t hold it against him.” Toriel stared at Frisk in surprise, and finally bent down and hugged her.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “You’re right, I’m not being fair to you. Either of you,” she said, looking up at Asgore. “Maybe… you could still watch Frisk after school? That is, if you’re not busy.”

“Of course not,” Asgore said, looking very surprised. “I mean, I would love to.”

“Okay,” she said. “That might be a good place to start.”

“Thank you,” Frisk said, hugging her tightly before breaking the embrace and hugging Asgore.

“I didn’t only do it for you,” Toriel said. “I was getting a bit worried about those friends of yours watching you.”

“Mooom,” Frisk groaned, and Toriel giggled.

“It’ll be nice to know that I’m coming home to a house that’s not on fire,” she said. “I love Papyrus but I really need to give him cooking lessons!” Frisk and Asgore exchanged a guilty look, and Frisk cleared her throat and grabbed Asgore’s paw.

“Thanks Mom, can I say goodbye to Dad?” she asked, and Toriel nodded.

“Go ahead dear, I’ll just be in the kitchen,” she said. Asgore opened his mouth and Frisk tugged him out the door, thankfully preventing him from saying anything incriminating.

“You really want to spend time with me?” Asgore asked once they were outside, and Frisk nodded.

“Of course,” she said. “And… today’s kind of a special day for humans, and I wanted to spend it with you.”

“What day is it?” Asgore asked, and Frisk hugged him again, burying her face in his overalls and inhaling the scent of burnt pizza.

“Happy Father’s Day, Dad.”

[mis-mcgifsten]

I love it! Consort Fox for the win.

The Alderaanian Royal Guard gets really protective of the Coruscant Guard. Like. Really protective. At some point the people start treating the Corries better if only because they know that there is always an Alderaanian somewhere in the vicinity. Sometimes it's the Senator himself. Once or twice it was the Queen. But there is always at least one member of the Royal Guard there. Somewhere. For people who say they are pacifists, they seem really bloodthirsty.

After a while, people are starting to figure out that they might've been just supressing any murderous intents up until now, and it's better if you don't tempt them too much.

(The word got out at some point that Fox was dating the Queen and the Senator and that it was serious. The Royal Guard immediately turned on the Prince treatment. Fox bluescreened the first time one of them opened a door for him.)