#there is some brief cashton in the background

[pixiegrl]

request for your next tangled muke adventure, the scene where they escape from the cave?

Meghna! This was so fun to write! Please enjoy my humble gift to you! And also @calumsclifford for endlessly hearing my yell about what im writing if its tangled

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26169226

Luke keeps whining about food. Michael wishes he would go back to tugging on his sleeve and asking him about everything if it means he’ll stop begging Michael for food. Michael’s not entirely sure of where they are right now and since he wasn’t planning on a trip, he doesn’t exactly have any food with him. Luke is not bothered by this at all, keeps choosing to ask Michael again and again as if the answer will somehow be different.

“Michael, there has to be somewhere to eat near here. Or something we can eat. Michael,” Luke whines, dragging out the end of Michael’s name in a way he can only describe as incredibly annoying. He turns to glare at Luke, who looks back at him with wide innocent eyes. He’s adorable and Michael still refuses to find him cute at all. He’s decided thinking of Luke as a friend was a mistake, now Luke has just decided to annoy him forever. 

Michael is relieved when the edge of a tavern comes into sight. He thinks he probably has just enough coins with him to feed Luke and get a drink for himself, so he can continue to put up with Luke’s bubbling enthusiasm. Even if the place looks a little rough for Luke to be in. Michael’s decently sure he can protect Luke from some bandits, as long as they’re not also after Michael. Although maybe Luke can just smile at them and they’ll reconsider harming him. He does have a nice smile, all bright eyes and dimples.

Luke starts bouncing on his toes when he sees it, too. Petunia peeks out of the corner of Luke’s hair, shooting him a worried look. How the fuck does a lizard manage to have so many facial expressions?

“Michael, can we eat there? Please?” Luke begs, turning to look at Michael with wide, blue eyes and a hopeful expression on his face. It melts Michael’s heart a little. He can’t stay mad at Luke for long, not when it’s so painfully obvious that the boy has never gotten to experience the world the way everyone else has. He’s so full of joy and wonder Michael can’t find it in himself to be annoyed that much.

“Only the best for you, Sunshine,” Michael says. Luke grins even wider, dimples creasing his cheeks, and laces their fingers together. He starts to swing their arms a little, humming under his breath. It’s painfully endearing. Michael’s all but abandoned his commitment to not finding him cute.

They push the door of the tavern open and Michael sucks a breath in when everyone turns to look at them. They must be quite the pair, Luke, with his incredibly long blonde hair and silky purple shirt, a lizard perched on his shoulder, and Michael, holding his hand and frying pan attached to his belt from when Luke complained about his arm being tired.

Luke is oblivious to their stares, instead tugging Michael further into the tarven, trying to find an empty spot and rambling about what food they could possibly have.

“Michael Clifford! As I live and breath,” A voice calls, full of mirth and laughter. Michael whips around in a panic, fear leaving him a little when he sees that it’s Calum, his old friend from the orphanage turned bandit, grinning and waving at him. He looks the same as the last time Michael saw him, apart from his once black curls are now a bright platinum blonde. His partner, Ashton, sits next to him, his own curls a raven black, and motioning for Michael to come sit with them.

“Who are they?” Luke whispers, curling a little into Michael, wary of new people. 

Michael tries to send him a reassuring smile, “Old friends. I promise they won’t hurt you.”

“Promise?”

Michael holds up his hand, linking their pinkies together and shaking. “Pinky promise.”

Luke looks a little confused by the gesture, but he must understand the sincerity of it and nods at him. Michael tugs them over to the table, ushering Luke into the booth first and following him. He helps Luke tug his hair in after them, earning them stares from the rest of the patrons.

Ashton lets out a whistle, looking at all of Luke’s hair. “That must be a hassle. You ever think about cutting it?”

Luke holds his hair tight to him. “I couldn’t do that. Mother wouldn’t let me.”

Ashton opens his mouth like he’s going to push the topic further, when Calum interjects, sticking his hand out towards Luke.

“Calum Hood, local bandit extraordinaire. This is my partner in crime, the slightly less good looking Ashton Irwin.” 

Ashton lets out a horrified squawk, smacking Calum. Calum laughs, eyes crinkling at the corner. 

“You married me, you idiot.”

“Only for evading the law purposes. The second they let us, I’m divorcing you and taking half the loot,” Calum says, grinning as he presses a kiss to Ashton’s cheek to let him know he’s only teasing. Michael’s forgotten how easy their relationship has always been, full of teasing and fondness. Michael’s known Calum longer and he would venture to call him his best friend (if two bandits can even have friends), but somehow when the three of them are together he’s always managed to feel on the outskirts of things. 

Luke’s watching them both, wide eyed and a little scared. Michael squeezes his thigh under the table. “This is Luke. Found him hiding in the woods. We’re going to see the lanterns for his birthday.

Calum raises his eyebrows, taking a sip of his drink. “Never known you to do anything out of kindness, Mikey.”

“That’s not true! I stole that necklace for you once ‘cause you said you liked it.”

“Fine, then nothing that didn’t require you to steal something.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not just you. They tell these half stories all the time and refuse to explain them. You get used to not getting their inside jokes,” Ashton stage whispers to Luke, grinning when Calum gently elbows him. Michael is filled with overwhelming fondness for his friends and their easy acceptance of Luke. Although Michael figures, who are a couple of bandits to question him finding a man in the woods?

“He only agreed to take me because I took his loot and Petunia keeps licking him,” Luke chimes in, producing Petunia from inside the folds of his hair. Calum and Ashton laugh delightedly at the sight of her. 

Michael pouts. “I’m getting new friends.”

“Michael, we’re your only friends,” Calum says rolling his eyes. He nudges Luke with his foot, startling him. “Do you want me to get you something to eat?”

Luke nods enthusiastically. Michael mouths a quick thank you to Calum. He smiles. “Ashton, take Luke with you and get something. I wanna check up with my old friend here.”

Ashton scoots his way out, ushering Luke over to the bar. When they’re out of ear shot, Calum rounds on Michael.

“The crown, Michael? You really thought stealing the lost prince’s crown would be a good idea?”

“I didn’t think I’d have this much trouble with it.”

Calum lets out a disgruntled noise. “That’s because you don’t think, Michael. What the fuck did you expect would happen?”

“Look, it’s just a job. We’ve taken plenty of them before.”

“Yeah, but those were just stealing from people. People who were much less notable than stealing the fucking crown jewels.”

“It’s one last job, Calum, and then I can stop,” Michael says. He’s had ideas over the years of what he would do. Travel, go somewhere far away and find a legitimate job, open his own orphanage. The possibilities are endless if he can just get this crown back and be on his way.

Calum sighs heavily, massaging his temple. He looks like he wants to say something, but is interrupted by Ashton and Luke coming back.

“Shove over,” Ashton says, raising his hands to show the drinks he’s carrying. Calum obeys, giving Ashton the space he needs to put things down. Luke’s tagging closely behind him, holding what looks like fish and chips close to his chest, a little wide eyed. Michael grabs the baskets, helping Luke, who shoots him a grateful look.

“You know you’re probably like, five minutes away from getting caught, right?” Calum says around a chip. Michael blushes at Luke’s quizzical look and Ashton’s glare. For a bandit, Ashton can be a little shit at the idea of stealing things sometimes.

“Let me enjoy this nice, hot food before you rip into me about stealing, but then still help us get away.”

Calum giggles slightly, expression fond. He’s holding Ashton’s hand on the table. It fills Michael with the overwhelming desire to have that, too. It’s always been lonely for him and while he’s happy for Calum and Ashton, he wishes he had someone like that too. 

Luke is eating some of the fish, scrunching his nose up at the taste.

“Good?”

“Different,” Luke mumbles around a mouth of food crumbs going everywhere, blushing when he realizes what he’s doing. Michael laughs, leaning over and wiping his face with a napkin. Luke never had to be presentable around other people before. It’s a miracle he’s managing to look cute while doing it.

Luke quietly feeds Petunia a small bite. Michael catches Calum watching them, a soft smile on his face. Michael sticks his tongue out at Calum when Luke isn't looking. Calum returns the gesture. Ashton snorts, covering it up in his drink when Luke looks up at the three of them. He flushes a little, clearly thinking they’re teasing him. 

Ashton waves it away, “It’s nice you have a little friend. Nice to have someone there for you when you get lonely.”

Luke smiles sadly. “Something like that.”

Calum looks like he wants to press the issue further, when the tavern door bangs open, someone shouting about the palace guards. Michael jumps up, making to push Luke out of the booth. 

“That’s our cue, Luke. Lovely to see you both again, let’s do this again sometime,” Michael calls behind him as he shoves Luke towards where he knows there’s a “secret” tunnel. He can hear Calum let out an exasperated sigh, but considering he’s known him since they were kids, he figures Cal will let this one slide.

***

“So, Calum and Ashton?”

“Hm?”

“You’ve known them a while, yeah?” Luke asks. They’ve been walking down the underground tunnel for a bit, venturing deeper and deeper with only torches to help them see. Luke’s been quiet since the tavern and Michael isn’t sure whether he should be worried or not. Considering Luke’s decision to ask personal questions, the answer was that he should be.

“I’ve known Calum since I was a kid. Ashton is more of a new addition. You let your friend do one job on their own and they come back with a husband.”

Luke giggles. “You make it sound like it’s a bad thing.”

“I just wish they’d invited me to the wedding. I have plenty of embarrassing stories about Calum and I’m not afraid to use them.”

“Does he?”

“What?”

“Have embarrassing stories to share with your future…” Luke pauses, shooting a glance at Michael. Michael wonders what Luke’s mother taught him about attraction and then disregards that notion. A woman who locks her son in a tower and refuses to let him out certainly won’t teach him what it means when you think boys are pretty.

“Husband. I like men. And unfortunately he does, but you’ll have to hear them from him,” Michael says. He realizes how that must sound, the implication that he wants to keep Luke around long enough to see Calum and Ashton again, to have Calum share childhood stories of Michael. That Michael isn’t ready to have this adventure come to an end, even if Luke can be a thorn in his side.

Luke looks like he wants to say something, but changes his mind at the last minute and says,  “So Michael, where are you from?”

“Nope. We do not know each other like that, you already know my name and that’s enough backstory for the rest of this trip.”

Luke pouts. “I just met your childhood friend and his husband. You just told me you like men. But you won’t tell me where you’re from.”

Michael sighs heavily. “I will tell you something about myself if you answer my questions first.”

“Sure.”

“I know I’m not supposed to talk about the hair, the mother, or the, uh, lizard?” Michael waves in Petunia’s direction. Luke nods. 

“Here’s my question. If you want to see the lanterns so badly you were willing to go on a trip with a complete stranger who broke into your home, why haven’t you gone before with your mother?”

“Mother wouldn’t let me.”

That makes Michael pause. It was implied in his initial request for the adventure, but it’s odd to hear it out loud. For all the oddness of Michael’s childhood growing up in an orphanage, he’s never been denied things. He was always allowed to go and adventure on his own terms, as long as he was responsible about it and came back in time for dinner. The idea that Luke’s mother would lock him up and refuse to let him leave seems a bit dramatic and harsh. Not for the first time, the notion of keeping Luke with him, of not allowing the boy to go back to his tower, of showing him the whole world, crosses Michael’s mind. Luke deserves it, deserves the chance to get to see what’s out there and Michael doesn’t know how he’s meant to return Luke to his prison when this is all over.

“Why wouldn’t she let you leave?”

“She claims that it’s safer for me up there where no one can find me.”

Michael opens his mouth to comment on that, when he hears a rumbling coming towards them. He turns around at the sound of shouting and sees the palace guards running towards them. Maybe Calum had a point about this being a bad idea. Michael turns to look at Luke, who’s got a look of fear and confusion on his face.

“Michael?”

“Okay, so you know how I have that crown? I may have stolen that crown and now would be a good time to run,” Michael shouts, grabbing hold of Luke’s hand and pulling him into a run. Luke, thankfully, realizes what Michael wants and follows him at Michael at an equally breakneck speed.

Michael pulls them along until they come out of the tunnel, skidding to a stop when they both realize they’re at the edge of a cliff. There is absolutely nowhere for them to go, considering they’re surrounded on all sides by open air and the guards behind them, not to mention that one horse that seems to have it out for Michael specifically. Michael hears a shout from down below and notices the Stabbington brothers have come out of their own tunnel looking up and pointing to Michael, both of them shouting. 

“So I’ve figured out the guard part, but who are those guys and why are they mad?” Luke says, clutching his hair in his arms. 

“Let’s just assume no one here likes me and work our way up from there.”

Luke frowns. “How much trouble are you in?”

“Luke, you met me because I crashed through your window with a stolen crown. You do the math.”

Michael’s at a loss for what to do or where they can go. Luke takes one look at him and rolls his eyes, shoving the frying pan at Michael. He takes his hair and swings it up, hooking it over a higher up damaged beam nearby. He tugs it once, nodding when he realizes it’s secure and hooks an arm around Michael’s waist. 

“So I’m sure this is a bad idea, but I think we have to go down?” Luke says, pointing.

“What?”

“There’s a tunnel down there and I think that might be the only way out.”

Michael looks down and he hates to admit it but Luke might be right. Luke throws his hair over a nearby beam and grabs onto Michael’s waist, giving them a running start, giving them enough momentum to take off and swing themselves down to the bottom of the ravine. They land solidly on their feet and Luke turns to beam at Michael. Michael gives him a relieved smile back and tugs on Luke’s hair pulling it down from the beam. They gather it and go sprinting off in the direction of the tunnel. 

Michael is sure they’re going to make it, until he hears the rumble and rushing sound of water fill the air. They just narrowly make it into the tunnel entrance before Michael realizes it’s not a tunnel and that there’s no exit. It’s too late for them to do anything now though, as rocks cover the entrance, leaving Luke and Michael in the dark. 

“So, this looks bad.”

“Yes, Michael, I would say that it does.”

Michael huffs, shoving Luke’s hair at him and diving into the rising water. He looks around for an exit but finds none. He pops up gasping for air, noticing that Luke’s feeling around the top of the rocks for an exit up that way. It would appear that they’re both out of luck. Michael dives down again to feel around, as Luke bangs frantically on the rocks with his pan trying to get them to break. Michael scrambles up, trying to pry some of the rocks loose. The sharp edge of one slices his hand and Michael swears loudly at the blood that starts to pool and drip from his hand. Luke looks torn between concern for Michael’s hand and fear about being close to death.

“I can’t see anything in here. I don’t think there’s a way out. Fuck, Luke I’m really sorry about all this. You just wanted a nice birthday gift and look at the mess we’re in now.”

The water is rising steadily, closing in on them. Luke is chewing at the corner of his lip, grasping Michael’s injured hand in his. Even dripping in ice cold water, Luke manages to make Michael feel warm and safe. The thought startles Michael. He hasn’t known Luke long enough to be this comfortable with him, but he is. 

“I think I have an idea.”

“Luke?”

“You told me that you like boys. I have a secret too. I have magic hair that glows when I sing.”

Michael blinks up at Luke. Michael takes it all back, all that time locked up in a tower and Luke has gone crazy. Maybe it was a bad idea for Michael to agree to this plan.

“Come again?”

Luke looks Michael in the eye, grinning at the realization. “I have magic hair that glows when I sing!”

Michael barely processes what’s happening before Luke starts singing some kind of strange song. The water finally covers them and Michael tries to hold his breath as best he can. Suddenly, Luke’s hair starts to glow from the roots to the tips. Michael almost screams in shock before he remembers that they are underwater and that would be a very bad idea.

Luke’s hair tugs towards the bottom of the tunnel, pulling their attention to a small pile of rocks. Michael pushes his way down, starting to pull the rocks away from the wall. Luke joins him and they tug away a small exit hole, the force of the water pushing them out of the tunnel and onto the shore of a riverbank.

Michael and Luke both take a gasping breath as they collapse side by side. Luke turns to Michael, grinning brightly, dimples on his cheeks, Petunia popping up onto his head. 

“We did it, Michael! We got out!” 

Michael makes eye contact with Petunia. “His hair glows.” 

Petunia looks very smug, Luke continues to cheer, grasping at Michael’s hand.

“Hair is not supposed to glow. That’s not something that happens. Do all strange men in towers have glowing hair? Is this something I was supposed to know?” Michael asks Petunia, octaves in his voice raising with confusion and concern. Petunia nods. “Why does his hair glow?!”

“Michael!” Luke calls, hands on his hips where he’s standing on the bank. He’s dripping wet, standing in the fading light on the setting sun. He shouldn’t be so pretty, but Michael thinks that might be the shock and gratitude. Even if Luke is exactly the sort of boy Michael used to dream about when he was young. 

“Luke?” Michael asks, voice strained.

“It doesn’t just glow. I can heal with it.”

“That’s strangely cryptic after you just showed me it glows. How much magic does your magically glowing hair hold, Luke from a strange tower?”

Luke huffs, coming to kneel in front of Michael. He wraps his hair around Michael’s injured palm and softly starts singing the same song. Luke’s hair begins to glow again and Michael feels a sharp tingling in his palm. Luke finishes, un-wrapping his hair, and Michael is startled to see that the cut and blood are gone.

“Don’t freak out.”

“Luke, we are well past freaking out,” Michael says, voice hitting an octave he didn’t know he could. Luke huffs again.

“If I’d known you were gonna be a baby about it, I wouldn’t have shown you.”

“Oh, so you would have died before you showed me the magically glowing healing hair?”

“Don’t be mean. I just saved our lives,” Luke says, pouting. 

“How long has it been doing that?”

Luke shrugs, “My whole life, I guess. Once, when I was a baby, people tried to cut it and take it for the magicalits magical powers. But when it’s cut it loses its color and power.”

Luke pulls back his hair, showing Michael a shorter strand of hair, dull compared to the rest of it. Michael leans forward, touching the lock softly. Luke smiles sadly at him. “It’s why I’m up in the tower. Mother says you have to protect a gift like mine. She doesn’t want me to leave because she’s worried that I’ll get hurt.”

Michael softens. It makes sense now, why Luke was up there, but it’s still cruel. No one would have to know about his hair. Why can’t he have the freedom to explore the world for himself? 

“And you still want to go back?”

“What other choice do I have? I’m safe up in the tower and I don’t think I could just leave Mother.”

“Luke, you deserve a chance to see the world and make your own choices,” Michael says, grabbing Luke’s hand and squeezing it. “I promise, that when this trip is all finished, I’ll take you on an adventure. We can travel the whole world if you want. I’ll show you everything there is to offer. Take Calum and Ashton with us. I think they liked you.”

Luke smiles a little brighter. Michael notices now that he seems to glow when he’s happy. It softens Michael. 

“You promise Michael? You aren’t just saying that because of my hair?”

“Of course I mean it, Sunshine. You’ve been a wonderful traveling companion. And I’m sure there’s plenty of floating lanterns all around for us to see.”

Luke’s smile widens. He throws his arms around Michael’s neck in a hug, “Oh thank you Michael! That’s the best birthday present ever!”

Michael blushes slightly, hiding his face in Luke’s shoulder. At least the only person around to see is Luke and Petunia. They won’t rat him out and ruin his reputation.

“Alright Luke that’s enough. It’s getting dark and we should start a fire for the night,” Michael says, pulling himself up to stand. Luke pushes himself up, coming to stand next to Luke. 

“You like me.”

“Regrettably I do. I’d like you more if you helped me get some wood.” 

Luke grins at Michael, “Only if you show me how to build a fire.”

Michael huffs, pretending to be put out, nudging Luke’s shoulder and smiling to show that he’s only teasing, “For you with the special hair, I’d do anything.”

Luke grins back, lacing their fingers together and tugging Michael in the direction of the woods to look for firewood.

Maybe traveling with Luke isn’t so bad. Maybe getting to take Luke on a trip around the world won’t be so bad. Maybe being in love isn’t the stuff of dreams, maybe it gets to be Michael’s reality.

[igarbagecannoteven]

emoji tiiiiiiiime 📥🏅🌝💻 xoxo bella

i feel like there should be airhorns accompanying this ask after the tiiiiime bit. just because. (also hi ily)

📥: what is your fave fic to receive comments/messages on? oof this is a hard one; i just love comments bro ya know? ig if i have to pick one, the comments on don't let me drown in my mind often are very special with people saying they related to it or felt luke's emotions very strongly while reading it which means a lot to me. i do have some strange feelings about people complimenting my writing on that one bc i felt like the whole first section was really just me translating a memory into fic form (with a few adjustments so luke's experience wasn't *exactly* like mine) which feels,, easier than a lot of other writing? but it's still nice to hear of course :)))

🏅: what is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc)? i answered this here! if i had to say something else it would be that in a critique on a short story for my creative writing class two people said they cried/teared up while reading it which is, imo, one of the greatest compliments you can get on your writing. also they gave lots of critiques and compliments together which i take as a good sign (oftentimes if a piece is really bad it'll either just be compliments or just critiques, and i think usually when there's a healthy balance that means the work is at least decent, which is what i'm aiming for in a first draft lol)

🌝: who is one character you haven’t yet written for that you would like to? i'd love to get more comfortable using atl and 1d as background characters in fic! jack b and liam both made very brief guest appearances in if i bleed you'll be the last to know, and i'd like to move from "very brief" to "semi integrated into the plot" someday! i'd also love to write a mirry fic eventually just for the heck of it, but i have yet to come up with a (feasible) plot for it.

💻: do you do research for your fics? what’s the deepest dive you’ve done? i do,, selective research on fics lol. if i want to procrastinate or it's something i care about getting right then yes, but if reality is going to be annoying and i don't think anyone reading it can dispute whatever bs i say, then i don't. funnily enough, the deepest dive i've done is for my cashton fakes the moonlanding wip, although most of the info i've read will not appear in the fic. the amount of time i've spent on the wiki page disproving conspiracy theories is ridiculous considering how little will be addressed in the fic. it's going to be a very "historically inaccurate unless it's funny to me personally" fic which means research has been fun but also a Time lol.

send me fic writer asks!