#they got into a lovers quarrel fr

[scorchedmazes]

i posted for rarepair bingo!! (shocker) it was my first time writing minally but its finished!! based on the florence + the machine song: “my boy builds coffins” bc gally just killed their relationship (and he’s a builder so-)

Gally stares at Minho as he stands up, brushing himself off. He hadn’t meant to lose his temper like that. Hadn’t meant to jab at Minho, knowing the boy had a temper himself. Minho’s face is red, burning hot with rage. Fists clutched at his side, heavily breathing as if he had just gotten done with running.. as if he and Gally had just finished a regularly scheduled makeout session. Gally now doubts that they’ll ever have those again.

Calling Gally a hypocrite isn’t the lowest blow Minho could’ve thrown at him, it hurt, but not as much as the look in Minho’s eyes do. Boring into him with so much hatred that Gally thinks he’s going to melt into the council hall flooring. Ironic, he was the one that put this flooring in. Death at the hands of Minho, laying on his craftsmen work. After the boy he wanted to marry threw him on the ground, threatening to break his neck and limbs if he ever so much as looked in his direction.

Gally sees Minho’s eye twitch, a thing that he’s seen before. After Minho’s spent too much time in the maproom, or when he gets done lecturing his runners about something. Gally’s usually the one that soothes it, he wants to soothe it now. He forces himself to stand there, feet away from the Keeper. “You should not have done that, Minho. You should not have done that.” Ignoring the tears that he saw pooling in Minho’s eyes, tears roll down his own cheeks as he marches away from the crumbled building of his relationship.

read it on ao3:

@mazerunner-rarepairs

[strawberry-spectre]

okay i need to hear your FULL thoughts on the spelltine comic!!!!!!

ALRIGHT LETS GOOOOOO (ill be commenting on every page of the comic so its gonna be long)

P1. I absolutely LOVE Whisp here, she's so supportive and so fun and I love how they drew her platonically kissing Valentine when he fell (also the pose she makes is the same as the one Val makes in P6 lol). Idk if the ' after some of the words Valentine says is suppose to be showing his southern accent but I love it. I also love the reference to the Eternal Body Odor pit it's so silly :,) BUT NOTHING BEATS VALENTINE DEAD ON THE FLOOR LMAO- and our queen Drac here looks GOREGOUS and I love how they gave her the pink bat necklace Clawd got her in one of the earlier webisodes its soo cute!!

P2. One of my favourite things on this page is how Valentine went from 'WOULDYOULIKETOBEFRIENDS' to 'I mean-' like its so funny how hes tryna act cool even though Draculaura alr saw how nervous he was lmao, the sparkles and sigh puff thing rly made it so much better. My other favourite on this page is Valentine stressing over that interaction with wide eyes staring into nothing with his hands covering his mouth and stray hairs everywhere, its peak fr. I love how espressive Valentine is LIKE OADFVHNAEGIRJ3GVBAGEIRBVAEIUF

P3. SPELLDON DEBUT LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! he genuinely looks so cool and cute at the same time I LOVE his purple undereye eyeshadow it looks like hes got some heavy eye bags lmao- the way Spelldons just calm and collected meanwhile Valentine is reacting to everything like its the biggest shock in his life ever is so funny and I absolutely love that dynamic. I also love how many necklaces Spelldons got on its so him. My favourite line from this page is 'it's gonna be dead in a few days, like my soul' like ok emo- ITS SO FUNNYDIJVBIEAVGAERU I LOVE HIM SM- I love complaining Valentine hes so silly :,) the way he exaggerates everything is so ugh <3333

P4. ngl when I read 'magician' I immediately thought of the ones in circuses with the pulling bunnies out of a top hat kind and I was so confused- and that look on Spelldons face?? bro knew that he's gonna get dragged into some craaaazy shenanigans. I love how Spelldon expresses his emotions through his eyes but Valentine expresses it through body language. Spelldon trying to talk Valentine out of the potion with him defending the idea is so cute like lover's quarrel before the lover's <33

P5. Bro Valentine talks so much his speech bubbles take up half the page lmao- butttttt I am slightly concerned about the bat wings in the back of the store... but thats nothing compared to the skulls and bones?? ig it makes sense since its MH but I'm still cry-laughing about it :,)) idk what the word is (sarcastic or sassy or smth) BUT SPELLDON'S REPLIES R MY FAVOURITE THINGS EVERRRR 'are you doubting my potion-crafting ability?' 'not in biteology' 'you're really good at that' LIKE UGHHHIFUVHBSIETRBI HES SO FIVBEIRUBNVARIE. Not them planning a date while shopping- also wtf is that Elissabat cutout?? what did they do to her :,0000 (the Murktail sign next to it is giving foreshadowing)

P6. AHHHHHH I LOVE THEM ICE SKATING SMMM AND AS ALWAYS SPELLDON IS ROCKING IT WHILE VALS JUST TRYING TO SURVIVE FJVAEIFVBIEUR HAHAHAHA but you know what's better??? VALENTINE FALLS AND THEY FALL TOGETHERRRRR AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THEY MAKE ME SO SICK I LOVE THEM SM- FIVJBARI first time we see Spelldon lose his cool like damn- WITH THE FIREWORKS TOO AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (Spelldon I see your hand hovering over Valentine, its okay ;))!!!!! I love the layout for this page and P7 sm its so fun to look at and theres so much colours!! and the implication that Val and Spell went 'borrowing' the guy's 'authentic himalayan ice malt' is so SCDFVGBNHJMK AND THAT LOOK THEY GAVE EACH OTHER ORIHVNSIERBNG

P7. NOT THEM FLIRTING AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THEY MAKE ME WANNA KMS THEYRE SO SWEET- AND VALENTINES PULLING OUT THE FULL NAME- 'you take me to the nicest places, Spelldon Cauldronello' with that U-U face and that clasped hands okay I see you Val, I see you. Favourite thing from this page? def the expectation vs reality chibi, ITS SO CUTEEEEE SPELLDON WANTING TO PROTECT VALENTINE MAKES ME ASCEND TO HEAVEN AND VALENTINE WORRYING OVER SPELLDON IRL TAKES ME THERE- Spelldon confirming that Valentine's accent is bad is so real bro when I watched the movie for the first time I was like '...he's southern??' BUT, THAT LINE 'you don;t do it with me' IS SO SXCDVFGBNHJM like Mr Cauldronello are you jealous?? its okay you can tell me <33 Valentine thinking a fake southern accent made him cooler and added to his ~mystique~ is so SDCFVGB hes so silly :,)) (I thought they forgot to draw Valentine's irises in the scene after bc I didn't realise he was looking up lmao)

P8. Valentine trying to diverge the convosation is so real bro like dw Spelldon knows you don't actually want to make all your emotions go poof, BUT ITS STILL SUCH A CUTE SCENE LIKE HES FINALLY COME TO THE REALISATION THAT LOVE ISNT ALL THAT BAD- crying :,) and when he started to explain how he likes hanging out w Spelldon, how he's glad that what happened happened, and the 'maybe I don't want to give that up yet' UGHHHHHHH MY HEART LEGIT FLUTTERED DCFVGBHNJM AND IT WAS SUCH A HEARTFELT SCENE AND I SCREAMED SO LOUD INTERNALLY and then Spelldon drinks it lmao- like yes! have your future bf worry for a few seconds before going haha jk! love it Spelldon's so CDVFGBNH i love him sm :,))

P9. 'you really think I was going to let you excise your emotions like that?' SPELLDON I LOVE YOU- THATS SUCH A COOL LINE BRO IXJNIJFVNSIUFVBNJDFC and then he hits Val with the 'someone you cared about' line LIKE THEY MAKE ME FEEL SO SINGLE IM HURT- SPELLDON BASICALLY ADMITTED THAT HE CARES ABT VALENTINE AND YES IT WAS OBVIOUS BUT THERES JUST SOMETHING ABT SAYING IT THAT JUST HITS DIFFERENT YKNOW?? ugh I need Spelltine to be my new heart I dont want my human heart anymore :,0. AND THE WAY VALENTINE GRABBED SPELLDON'S SHIRT AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH the way they looked at each other and the confession of feelings and everything and OH MY GODS THE 'maybe we can make sure it's not working...?' GODS, GODS, GODS- WE?? THE SLIGHT HESITATION?? THE FACES ONLY 10 CM AWAY FROM EACH OTHER??? your honor, they kissed. FUCK- CAN YOU TELL THAT I LOVE THIS PAGE?? THEYRE SO SWEET- KMS-

P10. THE. HAND. GRAB. gosh I can't deal with them- VALENTINE TAKING SPELLDON'S HAND WITH BOTH HIS HANDS IM SICKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK THEYRE SO SWEET- AND SPELLDON STILL HAS THE ROSE FROM VALENTINESERXDTFCYGUH oh lords they're everything- AND SPELLDON LOOKS AT VALENTINE WITH SUCH SOFT EYES WHEN WILL I HAVE WHAT THEY HAVE?? 'hmm somethings different about you, kieran valentine', Draculaura, he's come to terms with his emotions, he's made peace with the past and present, hes got an amazing bf, hes finally got that happiness, yep, very different :,DDDD

I love this so much it's the perfect ending, PERFECT. I literally can't even describe how much I love it with the 'and stop holding your hand?', the entire 'well i uh think it'll be cool if you met her- if you wanna thay is' text and EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING IS PERFECTION. ABSOLUTE P E R F E C T I O N. AND THE WAY VALENTINE LEANS AGAINST SPELLDON AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHO NEEDS THERAPY WHEN YOU'VE GOT THIS???? AND SPELLDON BLUSHING IS SO CUTEEEEEE THEYRE SO CUTEE gods I need help-

summary: they are so damn sweet, the comic layout is so good, the emotions was perfect, everything is perfect, I'm gonna die from happiness overload, I feel like a proud mother seeing them finally be together its WSERDTFGYUH if i die and im not holding this under my crossed arms then im not dying fr

thank u for the ask!!

[chiisana-lion]

Izuleo 👁️ subakoga 👁️ midoyuzu 👁️

cracking my knuckles rn i Will answer for each character so im putting this under a read more (also i answered for yuzuru here!!)

Izumi

favorite thing about them he likes shrimp hes just like me for real also the fact his hobby is bullying his underclassmen but he really does have a desire to help and guide them properly and Does do that in the end!!

least favorite thing about them kidnapping :( (serious note though i do find his relationship w makoto really interesting)

favorite line his "sooo annoying" catchphrase <3

brOTP everyone in knights!!

OTP izuleo the everythings. giving each other a 2nd chance to try again.,..., also they are literally living together so

nOTP izumako akjdsgkjashsjkhg

random headcanon saw he liked to knit and i think he'd make nice matching sweaters for everyone in knights at some point

unpopular opinion none here either!

song i associate with them that's why i gave up on music by yorushika is really izuleocore

favorite picture of them ur comic reminded me of this card and he looks like hes enjoying himself a lot picking out keychains for everyone hjksdghkjgsd

Leo

favorite thing about them he's a silly guy!! just really loves composing and sena and knights and he's been through. so much what the hell was checkmate head in hands

least favorite thing about them nothing tbh

favorite line his little lover's quarrel with izumi in sudden death jgwhjkghkjds

brOTP madaleo is rly sweet to me and in dark night's passing.. augh

OTP izuleo!!

nOTP instead of saying none here maybe i should just remove this part entirely but i rly dont have many notps whkjwhjksdg

random headcanon he brings izumi over to his family's house so often that they actually get rather surprised when he comes back on his own

unpopular opinion none really come to mind 😔

song i associate with them ^ same as the one in izumi's

favorite picture of them this sticker <3

Subaru

favorite thing about them he's obviously very protagonist coded with the typical happy and sunny personality but like!! he is also kind of a jerk sometimes!! hes actually fairly observant of people!! and he does work so hard and the fact he was shunned for it early in his yumenosaki years </3 but rly he has a lot of love in his heart and shows it and i rly like charas like that

least favorite thing about them understand the initial discomfort w arashi but the transphobic comments sometimes 😔

favorite line im sorry its been ages since i last read stories none come to mind rn orz

brOTP him and midori wkjsjgdkjhksd junior he likes to tease fr. also anzu!!

OTP poly trickstar is always fun!! also sbhk i esp like and you already know subakoga i have a soft spot for

nOTP him and anzu specifically, they're more besties to me

random headcanon trickstar sleepovers. thats it

unpopular opinion not gonna lie i actually quite liked him in meteor impact, yeah he said what he needed to say and albeit harsh chiaki Was being not the best! at that very moment and probably needed that

song i associate with them STARDOM! from ai/katsu stars gives me a kinda trickstar vibe (<planned to draw them in said dresses related to such but never got to it)

favorite picture of them i like him in the starpro photoshoot a lot!!

Koga

favorite thing about them hate UNDEAD all they do is shout go dogboy go (koga probably) i really like his voice!! yuki ono slays each time

least favorite thing about them i think he can stand to calm down a bit sometimes. but then again i guess thats his charm

favorite line [i need to brush up on stories for real] but his halloween line about leon and daikichi's matching costumes was cute djkgshkhjsdg

brOTP adonis and koga!!! love their friendship and how hes one of the people he can rly open up to in UNDEAD. also his and ritsu's dynamic is so so funny too wyd when the guy u admire more than anything else's little brother calls u corgi and makes u spoil him. also the aoi twins.,,.... i love the light music club

OTP only sbkg as of rn but im fairly open to others skdjghjksdhg havent thought much of that i just think those two specifically were nice

nOTP none!

favorite picture of them he looks really nice in this one :) just having fun w his love of dogs and they love him!!

Midori

favorite thing about them mascot lover so true!! also his growth is soo <3 he really didnt wanna be there but grew to love everyone in ryuseitai and being an idol and how hes definitely trying harder now compared to ! era augh

least favorite thing about them ik he doesnt really mean it most of the time when he says he wants to die but it still hurts a bit like </3 dont say that

favorite line Climax makes me so...,,... when he talks about how he felt bad for essentially wasting Chiaki's efforts in raising him as an idol in the end after a whole year like... aughgj..........................

brOTP EVERYONE IN RYUSEITAI they love each other. so so much

OTP *gesturing @ everything* i like midoyuzu a perfectly normal amount (lying)

nOTP hmmm none really.,,... i guess i cant rly see chia/mido in a romantic way if anything?

random headcanon he saves yuzuru's art on his phone and look back at them as a pick-me-up during training or work sometimes!

song i associate with them i mean what else it really does fit him to a T imo

favorite picture of them 7th anni homescreen art gets me each time hes just. hes so damn starstruck it obliterates me

[aqueeracademic]

morse being queer (and other commentary) pt 11:

season 3, episode 3, “Prey”:

- this episode is so insane

- i forgot it entirely tbh

- morse is so stunning in maroon 😭😭

- typically if your house is filling with smoke, you OPEN THE DOORS AND WINDOWS

- just letting thursday cough for no reason

- morse got so used to how he and jakes worked together he doesn’t know how to act anymore

- jakes used to let morse do most of the talking 🫤

- i have to respect every character ever flirting w morse because if i was an actor i would flirt w shaun evans at any given opportunity whether or not it was in the script

- i want whatever life these students are leading

- just smoking and drinking in the woods around a fire and skinny dipping

- minus the murder of course

- or i could get murdered

- that might be fine

- anyways!

- morse is so catty when he’s questioning people

- like he needs to take a deep breathe methinks

- trewlove supremacy we need to protect her at all costs 🥰🥰

- morse’s face after the scientist explains what he’s doing is so fucking funny

- i am 100% convinced that morse is in a shitty mood this episode because he misses having jakes around

- jakes and morse worked well together because they know where the other person is most valuable and useful and he doesn’t have that chemistry anywhere else

- once again, i HATE when men call women birds, but strange saying “the only birds he had any interest in were the feathered sort,” is SO DAMN FUNNY

- morse’s waist is SNATCHED ‼️

- morse also liked jakes because he never disturbed him

- he just let him be himself and that’s why morse loved him

- strange and morse r so weird together sometimes

- like strange literally taught morse how to be a good friend and yet the only person he’s incapable of being a good friend w is strange

- THE BABY???????? IS THE TIGER GONNA KILL THE BABY???????

- update the tiger did not kill the baby but the goat is MIA

- DEBRYN THANK GOD

- been needing him recently

- morse focusing on debryns eyes instead of the arm 🥰🥰

- ex-lovers quarrel in the laboratory ladies?

- like why is debryn so catty w that other doctor ?

- felt super personal

- mr craven is fine as FUCK i don’t care what anyone says

- he’s hot ‼️

- i’m gonna vouch for trewlove to wear pants and boots

- tights and skirt with little wing tips is not gonna cut it in the woods

- bright just wants a daughter i’m so sick 😭😭😭

- morse and thursday squaring the FUCK up to defend bright is something that can be so personal

- AYO MORTMAIGNE IS SO FINE

- ok let me stfu

- “perhaps you should fetch the officers some tea”

- HELLO?

- the way she’s having a complete breakdown over the death of a friend, entering a state of shock and sobbing, and he tells her to SERVE THEM??????????

- i hate men

- “have you come to pray?” “uh………. not today.”

- i know she’s probably right that brutus was just trying to play and didn’t mean to hurt her but girl 😐

- you got MAULED by a TIGER

- cant be blaming urself for all that

- thursday connecting with sam is so 😭😭😭😭😭😭

- he’s so proud of him

- and he doesn’t want him to do anything just for him

- i wish he was my dad

- oh i know for a fact trewlove lived for academic validation in school

- look at her little smile when bright complements her

- she’s just like me fr

- casual police brutality

- cant love it!

- a TIGER????????????????

- in OXFORD?

- the writers were bored when they came up w this one

- the plots where a woman is guilty are more interesting almost 100% of the time

- morse’s face when he sees the tiger

- he’s literally shitting bricks

- it’s not funny but yes it is

- this is why rich people shouldn’t be allowed to keep mazes on their property

- i’m not saying they are paralleling morse to a tiger but that’s exactly what i’m saying and i’m willing to do an entire analysis post of that!

- bright is the COLDEST motherfucker to ever do it

- how on EARTH did they get a tiger for this shit

- morse is such a victim

- props to him for acting brave in this scenario i would have had a stroke

- his face tho 😭😭

- “when it jumps you run!”

- savior complex! he has a savior complex! and i’m tired of you pretending he doesn’t!

- dear god he was so scared

- once again tho:

- BRIGHT IS THE HARDEST MOTHERFUCKER ON THE FORCE

- well that was stressful

- “carry on!”

- during the girl’s confession, bright and morse share a Moment™️ and it’s rly special to me

- also the doctor not being attracted to her because of her mauling is SO foul i hate men

- “if he understood me then maybe he could have loved me.”

- and then FOCUSING on morse during the episode he’s grappling with jakes leaving ????

- i’m gonna fucking vomit

- this episode was not gay but it was VERY camp so i fuck w it

[kiatheinsomniac]

☾ ⋆ﾟ MODERN THINGS V

notes: for what I had planned in my notes, I've cut the chapter in half to get it out sooner because it's been far too long! Also I will warn you that the last 2500 words were written at the peak of me being sleep deprived and I did not proofread this lmao

pairing: modern! Thranduil x Reader

word count: 4.3k

warnings: slight NSFW content, imbalanced power dynamics, big sugar daddy/sugar baby vibes fr

☾ ⋆ﾟ  MASTERLIST / RULES / TAGLIST FORM

More scattered than stars

Your chest felt tight with anxiety as you pushed open the doors to the study. That voice had only grown louder since you had told it that you would no longer be snooping around whatever Thranduil had planned in the political world. Now, the voice had grown louder, scarier, seeming to talk over itself in multiple voices as it threatened you and softly coaxed you and commanded and guided you all at once. But, out of all the tones it was using, all these strings of words coming from the same voice, they all had one thing in common: it would leave you alone if you just read through the files and gathered some information. So, here you were, going through Thranduil's desk with shaky hands and teary eyes. You sat down beside the best and wiped your tears with the backs of your hands before beginning to read. 

There were reports about the dragons and Erebor’s quarrels with them, about certain projects to preserve elven culture, and plans to improve the already incredible use of renewable energy in the province. 

“Can I stop?” You asked in a whisper, feeling guilty for betraying your lover’s trust like this after all he had given you and done for you. 

Not until you find something of use to me.

You continued looking around until you found a drawer near the bottom of the desk that was locked. You searched all around the large desk for a key but could find nothing. 

The statue bust. 

Next to the window behind the desk, there was a bust on a pillar. It showed an elleth with dainty features and a hood upon her head, a crown upon her brow, her eyes closed in a peaceful expression. You began to examine the perfectly-dusted stone at the back of her neck was a small hollow section containing a key. You took it in your hands and went for the locked drawer, finding a series of files that were stamped as confidential. You laid them out on the floor in order that they were stacked in the order that you removed them. There were a series of spreadsheets containing bank transactions to all sorts of different accounts, to different names, many of them prefixed with military titles. 

Again, you found all the plans for the censorship surrounding what could be said about Thranduil’s campaign and then one particular file caught your interest. Certain details were blacked out and you could tell that this was a photocopy. Your eyes widened as you read through the plan across the few pages, becoming too overwhelmed once you finished the introduction to take in the finer details of this plot. 

Thranduil was planning on forcefully restoring the monarchy. 

This was a plot to expand the province’s borders to all of what was once the Woodland Realm of Mirkwood, to close the borders and to have an army march upon Erebor to reclaim heirlooms of elven culture that Erebor had yet to return, claiming that they rightfully belong to the dwarven Kingdom as the elves never paid them in full. 

This will do for now.

The voice said and then at last it was gone. Your heart was fluttering in your chest and your fingers trembled as you put everything back in place where you found it, being extra careful to make everything as neat as Thranduil liked his environment to be before you returned the key to its hidden place in the bust of the elven woman. You closed the door behind you and made your way straight to yours and Thranduil’s room where you stripped off all your clothes and got into the shower, turning the dial so that the water became colder and colder while you were in there. You needed to calm down before he came back. This was a big plot and, considering the military power that was going behind it, it would get a lot of people killed if not start all-out warfare. 

Thranduil had mentioned recently how the dwarf Lord of Erebor was stubborn – surely he wouldn’t stand for this? But did they have the power to hold off the army that Thranduil was building? 

You tried to put it out of your mind as you showered, the cold water shocking your body into calming down from its anxiety. Thranduil would be coming home on time for lunch today and he could read you like a book – he had had years to learn how to read people – and you didn’t want him to know what you had been doing. You were doing all of this for a chance to escape your mortality and live with him but you couldn’t do that if you broke his trust and he cast you away because of it. 

You got out of the shower once you were calmed down enough. You had never cared about these things before so why now? Just because you knew things that others didn’t, things that were very against the law and were certainly going to get people killed. You were living with a man you love and loved you in return and you were lavished in all the luxury you could ever want. Why should you throw that away? Even if you did do something to stop Thranduil, tipped off other powerful people perhaps, they would get all the glory and you would lose everything and no one would be thankful for the clueless little girl who tipped off all the powerful men. Perhaps you were selfish but you couldn’t find it in yourself to care enough. 

You were sitting in front of the vanity, fully dressed and brushing back your wet hair when Thranduil came into the room, a ghost of a smile on his lips when he saw you. You set down the brush as he approached you, hands coming to rest on your shoulders as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to your temple. 

“You look beautiful, meleth.” He murmured as his arms wrapped around you, leaning down over your body. 

“Thank you.” You beamed a smile at him, all of your worries melting away as you looked into those bright blue eyes of his. You turned your head to give him a soft kiss, “How was work?” 

“Easier than how the rest of the week has fared.” He replied as he stood up, shrugging off his blazer and sliding the wardrobe open to hang it up before he took off his cufflinks and rolled his sleeves up, removing his tie and putting that away so that he could undo a few buttons of his shirt. “I simply had to look over some plans for a few campaigns: better renewable energy, cultural funding, environmental programs, all made easier by my team.” 

“Sounds complicated.” You replied, knowing full well that you had just read all of these in his office today. 

“Not so much as dealing with affairs involving other provinces, thankfully.” He replied as he made his way back to you, offering you a hand and guiding you to stand. “Now, let us have lunch.” You gave him a smile and happily nodded your head as you took his arm and the two of you made your way to the dining room, a spring in your step at being with your lover. For now, you didn’t need to worry about anything: not about the voice, not about Thranduil’s plans, not about Legolas. But that didn’t stop you from bouncing your leg and worrying your lip during your meal. 

“Are studies worrying you again, meleth nîn?” Thranduil laid his hand over yours on the table as you finished your food and made to drink the last of your water. You didn’t want to lie to him any more than you already had just by hiding things from him but you didn’t want to say that something else was bothering you either because then he would inquire into that and you didn’t have a believable lie up your sleeve to convince him with. 

“Yes…” You sighed, “It’s all so overwhelming at times.” There was a flash of sympathy in his eyes before he brought up his hand to check the time on his watch. When he lowered his hand again, the hand that had previously been covering yours came up to touch underneath your chin, tilting your head slightly so that he could kiss you. 

“Go and dry your hair.” He spoke as he withdrew, standing from the chair, “I’ll pick out your outfit, I’m taking you shopping.” Your face lit up at that and you almost leapt from your seat. 

“Oh, thank you!” You exclaimed, stretching up onto your toes to kiss his cheek as you excitedly took his hand and half-dragged him to his bedroom where you began touching up your makeup and drying your hair, styling it simply. In the meantime, Thranduil was going through your side of the wardrobe to pick out an outfit for you. He enjoyed dressing you up himself and he always put together good outfits for you so you were more than happy to allow him to do so without protest. He picked out a white silk dress for you that fell to your mid-thigh and had a lace trim at the top and bottom with spaghetti straps. He paired this with a dark brown cardigan and a pair of black pump shoes that had a big platform on the bottom, a bigger heel and straps that went around your ankles. Going over to your jewellery box, he took out a simple set of pearl earrings and necklace and a little hair clip to match. 

You gladly got dressed, thanking him with another kiss to the cheek and the two of you headed off to the garage where Thranduil’s hand rested on your thigh for the journey as you left to go shopping in another town. He would let you plug your phone into the aux providing that your music wasn’t too loud as he sped through the streets in his Mercedes. He would only take you to the most expensive places and, at first, you had felt rotten for spending so much money but he had made you grow accustomed to it now. However, your eyes had flittered to the rearview mirror a few times where you noticed the same two Land Rovers following you. You mentioned it to Thranduil. 

“Yes, tensions are growing…” His lips pursed slightly and his thumb caressed the skin of your knee, “I’ve decided to start bringing the body guards with me to more than just work now. They won’t bother us at all unless there’s a security issue so you don’t need to pay them any mind, meleth.” You simply nodded your head and covered his hand with yours, fingers curling around some of his own fingers. 

By the time the car was parked – in what you noted to be a car park that was rather empty and only seemed to have rather expensive-looking cars in it – you were walking through the shopping centre on Thranduil’s arm with a bubble tea in your free hand. There weren’t many people here but you knew that this was a very high-end place so it wasn’t exactly a hotspot for the majority of the public which you were thankful for. 

In the back of your mind, you always worried about Thranduil’s fame when you went out with him. He made efforts to preserve his privacy, to detach his name from his face – this much you had read mention of in those files – but nothing like that was ever entirely airtight and all it could take was one picture going viral online for you to have your best friend screaming down the phone to you about sleeping with his dad. A dreaded part of you knew that Legolas was bound to find out one day but you had already discussed that Thranduil would be the one to tell him first – you certainly didn’t want him to find out through some stranger’s picture on social media. 

The two of you began to browse around a shop you had been to before, searching through different dresses, button-downs, shoes, Thranduil snatching your hand away whenever you went to check the price tags, setting your hand back on his arm as he got one of the body guards to carry your pickings out as she trailed along behind you. She was an elleth with bright eyes and even brighter fiery hair that was braided away from her face down the top and fell down past her waist behind her, curling towards the ends. She had strong shoulders, that much you could see even through her suit and she followed behind the two of you, keeping a distance but not straying too far. You hadn’t a clue as to where the rest of the bodyguards were. 

Something you enjoyed about shopping with Thranduil – other than how therapeutic it could be – was that he was genuinely interested in what you bought and how it looked on you. He liked to have a say in how you dressed, even if he was the only one to really see you, and so he wasn’t the typical sort of man to be blatantly dying of boredom and giving you half-hearted compliments. You pulled the curtain back to reveal your final outfit: a black babydoll dress with matching heels and a pair of sheer black Chanel tights with lace gloves to match. You swung your hips a little, enjoying the twirl of the skirt, as you showed off the outfit, liking how it matched the jewellery that Thranduil had already picked out for you that night. 

He rose to his feet, eyes taking in the sight of you as he slowly approached. His hands ruffled the skirt of the dress a little and straightened out the sleeves as he took in the sight of you, eyes remaining low. Him and damned tights you thought with a ghost of a knowing smirk. He hummed in approval at the outfit and his finger curled under your chin to make you meet his eyes for a moment – they sparkled like a starry sky, as elves’ eyes usually did, but now they were lidded, darkened, and you knew that you were in for a long night. He leaned down, lips grazing past your cheek and jaw before planting a hot kiss just beneath your ear. 

“You look delightful, meleth nîn.” He murmured into your ear before rising back up to his full height, “Get changed again and I’ll pay.” With a little ‘ok’ you gave him a smile and kissed his cheek before changing back into your own clothes, taking everything over to the counter with him where he didn’t even check the price before swiping his card and then insisting on carrying your bags for you. 

You had already lost track of how much time had passed since the two of you arrived here and you were not given the chance to even ponder it as you were soon being whisked into a jewellery shop where jewels glittered all around you under the bright lights. You tugged slightly on Thranduil’s arm as a red necklace caught your attention but his arm wrapped around your waist and he shook his head slightly before making his way straight to the jeweller behind the counter. She was a dwarven woman, her beard intricately braided like her hair and decorated with various gem-studded cuffs. Her ears glittered with various piercings of precious metals and she wore a suit with a robe-like overcoat. As much as you knew Thranduil’s preference for elvish craft, he had once humbly admitted that the dwarves had a particular skill in jewel-smithing that he simply couldn’t overlook. The dwarf seemed to recognise him without a word as she nodded her head and hopped down from the step that was giving her additional height behind the counter, making her way away from it as another dwarf, a man this time, took her place and she stopped in front of a particular case. 

You were unsure what she did to trigger it, but the case opened like a door to reveal a room behind and you looked to Thranduil in shock. Surely a secret room in an already high-end shop would only hold jewellery more expensive than you could ever pay for with a lifetime of work? Thranduil seemed to be amused by your reaction before leading you to follow the dwarven woman, the door closing behind the two of you. You found yourselves in a circular room, the walls lined with display cases and the plush carpet a dark navy blue. In the middle of the room was a circular table with some chairs around it. The dwarven woman sat in one particularly high chair that helped her to not be so short compared to the two of you while Thranduil set your bags of clothes down and pulled your chair out for you, ever the gentleman, before taking his own seat. 

“Do you have any particular ideas about what you’re looking for today?” She asked Thranduil and you wondered if it was so truly obvious that you were not used to this exclusive setting. 

“What’s the highest value metal you have here?” He asked and your eyes went wide in shock. You had got used to him spending lots of money on you, yes, but this much?! Surely whatever he was about to buy would cost more money than you would ever see in your life! You opened your mouth to protest but your white-haired lover sent you a pointed look and one of his hands rested on your thigh, silencing you without a word. 

“We recently had a new set come in. That you may like.” The dwarf got up from her seat and made her way over to one of the cases, taking out a necklace and pair of earrings. The silver that they were wrought from seemed to glow and you wondered if it was just a trick of the light or if, perhaps, it was caused by the pale glow emitting from the gems which seemed to have silver and pale blue light dancing within them in all directions. They almost looked as though they shouldn’t be real, as though they had been pulled from the fairy tale books you would read as a little girl. “The metal is from a shooting star and the gems were crafted from its dying light.” Your heart hammered in your chest, unable to imagine how much these cost. 

“May we?” Thranduil asked before you could even utter a word and the dwarf swept her hand in a gesture that said ‘be my guest’ before Thranduil stood from his seat and swept your hair away from your shoulder, unclipping the pearls from your neck and ears before reaching past you to the set on the table, dressing you in a star. He could feel how you trembled slightly, uneasy with the responsibility of wearing such jewels. His hand came under your chin, index finger and thumb curling into your cheeks and turning your head this way and that to admire how the earrings sparkled on either side of your face while the necklace hung around your neck, glittering from your throat to just above your cleavage. 

“Thranduil, I can’t wear these.” You whispered and his look of admiration soured slightly, breaking his focus from how he was admiring you like you were the most exclusive artwork at an auction he had just won. 

“Of course you can.” He replied, a coo to his voice before he leaned down over you to speak lowly in your ear, “And you will because I say so. Understood, little one?” You could only nod in reply, wide eyed as that pleasant look returned to his face. Behind those eyes, unbeknownst to you, he was already fantasising about how that necklace would look swinging from your neck as he bent you over the counter in front of the bathroom mirror. “Tilt your head back so I can see the necklace in the light, darling.” He instructed and you did just that, feeling his hand at the back of your head as you looked up at him, his eyes on the pricy necklace and the way that this angle allowed him to look straight down your dress so easily. “Yes, you truly have an eye for my taste, I’ll take this one.” He smiled at the dwarf woman. Any other client who entered this room would usually need a lawyer present as well as other staff members of the ship but Thranduil had been buying from the family-owned company for generations. It had been very long since he had been here but he had broken his absence recently when he came to buy you a set of jewels alone to give to you at home. He was a trusted client here after all that he had bought for his late wife centuries ago. 

You let out a shaky breath as Thranduil removed the glittering jewels of starlight and replaced them with your pearls, much to your relief. The two of you were escorted back outside and Thranduil’s hand rose from being wrapped around your waist to cover your eyes as you were worriedly looking at the till for the price. You didn’t catch the number at the start but you did see all the zeros at the end, almost enough to give you a heart attack. He left carrying the jewels down to the bodyguards and you squeezed his arm a little as you left. 

“I thought we were here to make me feel better!” You protested quietly, “That was far too much money!” He let out a sharp sigh. 

“Don’t be ungrateful, meleth, you know I don’t like when you act like a brat.” Your eyes widened in surprise at how terribly he had interpreted your reaction. Sometimes you forgot about how different the two worlds you came from were until he did something like this. 

“No, no, I am grateful, really, I am but…” Your hand squeezed his arm a bit too hard, enough for him to notice and he glanced down at you, “Surely there are more important things to put such money towards.” You found yourself swept into an alcove between two stores, away from the main walkways. 

“You couldn’t be more wrong, my love.” He said as one of his hands came up to caress your cheek, “You’re worth far more than every last penny in any of my accounts and assets. There’s nothing in the world I put more value on than you so the costs of what I gift to you are truly meaningless. I couldn’t possibly put a price on how precious you are to me, little one.” His hand brushed the hair away from your face affectionately and he leaned down to kiss your forehead, “So don’t you ever worry about how I choose to spend my money, there’s truly nothing that makes me happier than providing for you.” He had provided everything for you. Your student loan paid off along with all of your tuition, an upgraded laptop, anything you may desire on a whim, your own apartment, a high-end wardrobe, more shoes than you had ever owned in your life, a place in his home. 

Your eyes teared up at him and suddenly you couldn’t hate that voice anymore – wherever it had gone to now – no matter how much it tormented you. It was giving you the opportunity to have an immortal life with this man who looked at you like you were all the light in the world: the sun, moon and stars, the flicker of fire or the mysterious glow of bioluminescence. He looked at you like you gave meaning to a world, like you were his vision in a dark and blind world. 

“I love you so much.” Your voice broke. Your relationship was a secret for a handful of reasons, Legolas being the primary one, but how could this possibly be wrong when he made everything feel so right? When he made you feel complete. How could something so beautiful, the very craving of your soul, be wrong? “I can’t put it into words, I’d take my heart out of my chest and give it to you if I could, just to prove that it’s all yours… Because it never has belonged to anyone else, nor will it ever.” You laughed a little awkwardly at your terrible wording, a poor comparison to just how intense your love was for him. 

“You needn’t do that, meleth nîn.” He replied with a small smile, reaching up to very carefully wipe away the tears that were just about spilling from your eyes, careful to not ruin the makeup that he watched you apply with such careful precision. You already relied on him for everything, you didn’t need to give him any more than that level of trust, allowing him to provide everything for you. All you had to do in return was follow the few rules he had laid down for you and he was content. Which is why you couldn’t let him find out that you had been going through his study. “Why don’t we head home and we can get you used to wearing those pretty jewels, hm?” He suggested and you nodded your head, feeling his fingers lace with yours before he was leading you back to the car. 

He held your hand in his the whole way back, not even breaking contact with you to change gears, bringing your hand with his and you couldn’t help the way it made you blush.  Despite all the filthy things this ellon had done to you, it was always the simplest of things he did that really flustered you. You looked forward to what awaited you at home.

☾ ⋆ﾟ Buy me a coffee? ✧⋆.・゜Want to be tagged?

🏷️@clumsycopy @edensrose @augustwithquills @involuntaryspasms @welcometomordor @redeemer46

[sisterspooky1013]

More Than A Feeling, Chapter 7

Rated X | Read it here on AO3

“Trouble in paradise?”

Scully startles, dropping a set of torque wrenches into the dry grass and missing her foot by inches.

“Sorry,” Summer says with a little grimace, picking up the wrenches and handing them to her.

“It’s fine, I was just spacing out. What’d you say?”

With opening day in full swing, Scully has just returned from making a few adjustments to the Tilt-A-Whirl and is crossing her fingers that her walkie-talkie doesn’t make another peep long enough for her to take a break. The weather has relented slightly, hovering just above 80 degrees with a decent cloud cover, though the temperature in the maintenance trailer clocks at about ten degrees higher, and her tank top is drenched with sweat.

The time spent with busy hands and little conversation has given her plenty of time to think about how to maneuver this situation with Mulder: how to temper her feelings for him in the face of this act they have to put on as part of their cover. She’d inadvertently rebuffed him at both breakfast and lunch, so overwhelmed by her physical response to his closeness that she reflexively pushed him away. Who knew that it would be so much harder to pretend to have feelings for someone when you aren’t pretending at all?

“Was I wrong?” Summer asks as she leans against a towering tool chest. “He’s not good at eating pussy?”

“I’m sorry?” Scully questions, confused.

“It’s pretty obvious that you’re less than pleased with your new beau,” Summer says with a knowing look. “Do I need to go slap some sense into him? Give him some tips? I can find a clitoris in the dark with my hands tied behind my back and a muzzle on.”

“Oh–,” Scully stammers, “no, that’s—it’s fine.”

“Wow. Fine, huh?” Summer says with a smirk. “Ringing endorsement.”

Scully heaves a frustrated sigh, tossing the wrenches into a drawer and slamming it shut.

“It’s not that, Summer,” she tries. “I’m just not very good at being in a relationship, I guess.”

“But you’re still interested in him?” Summer asks, and Scully’s stomach drops. Allowing the other staff members to think that there’s some kind of lover’s quarrel going on will draw attention that they really don’t need.

“Yes, I am, though I realize it probably doesn’t look that way.”

Summer nods and considers her.

“Let’s take a break, grab some shade and something cold to drink,” she suggests, and Scully reluctantly follows her to the opposite side of the trailer where a wide stripe of shade is cooling the grass.

They crack open frosty bottles of water and take long drinks, looking out over the grounds where wide-eyed locals are being drawn into the games in spades, their wallets thinning out as though they’re in Vegas.

“Did I tell you that I used to do hair?” Summer says suddenly, and Scully turns to her with a curious expression and shakes her head. “I did for years. I got out of it because salons are some of the cattiest gossip mills imaginable, and I couldn’t deal with the drama, but I was actually pretty good at it.”

Scully nods again, pulling dried-out strands of grass from the hard-packed dirt distractedly.

“So, there was this woman, Lyda, who rented the station next to mine,” Summer starts again, her eyes on the ferris wheel. “She was gorgeous: braids down to her waist, this smile that was like actual sunshine. And her ass—whew.”

Scully chuckles and shakes her head, the rising and falling wails of people riding the Ring of Fire rushing past her ears.

“I was so fucking in love with her. And one night we were closing down the salon together, just doing all the cleaning routines and shit. And Lyda looks at me all flustered and I can tell she’s trying to work up the nerve to say something. And I’m thinking—this is it. She’s going to ask me out, finally. And do you know what she said?”

Summer stops and turns to look at Scully. Scully blinks at her and then shrugs.

“She said, ‘I’m not sure what I did to upset you, but I think you’re a really cool person, and I’d like it if we could be friends.’”

Scully quirks her head. “She thought you didn’t like her?”

“She thought I hated her fucking guts,” Summer says emphatically. “So first, I told her that I thought she was the coolest and hottest person I’d ever met. Then I fucked her brains out. And then I asked her why she thought I hated her.”

“What did she say?” Scully asks, immediately invested in the story.

“She said I was just standoffish, avoided making eye contact or chatting other than things related to work. She would ask me how my weekend was and I’d say ‘fine,’ then go sanitize my combs or some shit. So to her, it seemed like I was avoiding her.”

“But you weren’t,” Scully says, catching on.

“Not at all. I was just so overwhelmed by how attracted I was to her, and I had to work right beside her all day. So I tried to kind of shut that feeling off to get through my shifts, but doing that sent her a pretty strong signal that not only was I not interested, I didn’t even like her as a friend. I shot myself right in the damn foot.”

Summer leans back, propping her torso up on her arms.

“It’s hard for me to be vulnerable,” Scully admits, feeling concurrently guilty and embarrassed.

“Fair enough,” Summer says plainly. “But in my experience, most things worth doing aren’t especially easy.”

“I’m not sure I’d even know where to start,” Scully says with a sigh.

“Well,” Summer says as she stands and brushes the grass of her shorts, “maybe the next time he touches you, ignore that voice in your head telling you to run like hell. That bitch lies.”

Scully chuffs a little laugh and her walkie-talkie squawks before Mickey calls for help with the Beetle Bounce.

“Duty calls,” Summer says with a little salute, grabbing her toolbox and heading towards the rides.

Scully watches her walk away, and knows that Summer is right, in a way. She is signaling to Mulder that she doesn’t want to be close to him, physically or otherwise. But that voice in her head, the one that screams at the top of her lungs every time Mulder touches her, isn’t telling her to run—Summer was wrong about that. It’s telling her to kiss him back, to let him hold her, to see where this thing goes. And that is more terrifying than just about anything she can imagine.

-

“Spock! Here boy!”

Madge cups her hands around her mouth and whistles loudly, but her voice is drowned out by the ascending and descending beeps from the fun house.

“He’s probably dumpster diving, Mom,” Mulder calls to her through the open window of the cook trailer. “I’m sure he’ll find his way back later.”

Madge frowns and limps over to one of the picnic tables, sitting with her back against the table top so that she’s facing the trailer.

“So, Buddy Boy, what’d ya do?” she asks gruffly, leveling him with a stern look.

“With what?”

“Seems like you pissed off that little lady of yours real quick. You tryna set a world record for shortest carny romance or something?” she teases.

Mulder chews his lip and busies himself slicing a head of lettuce. He wishes he knew how to answer the question, but he’s just as perplexed by Scully’s behavior as Madge is. Something as benign as a hand on her shoulder has her shrugging him off and looking for a reason to leave, and on top of being risky for their investigation, it honestly hurts his feelings. Is he so repulsive that she can’t even pretend to enjoy his company for the sake of the case?

Reading the weight of his silence, Madge clicks her tongue and her tone softens.

“You’re a sweet boy, Luke,” she says sincerely. “If she thinks she can do better, she’s as wrong as onion ice cream.”

That gets a smile out of him, though he doesn’t agree with the sentiment. Scully could most certainly do better than him, and he’s realizing how foolish it was to think that she might be interested in something more than being his friend and partner.

“Speak of the devil,” Madge says lightly, and Mulder lifts his head to see Scully approaching.

“Hi,” she says to him through the open window, her expression tense. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Uh, yeah,” he says, flashing his eyes over to Madge. “I can take a quick break.”

“Take all the time you need, son,” Madge says as she slowly stands and makes her way into the trailer to take his place. “I’ve got it.”

He strips off his apron, leaving him in jeans and a dirty T-shirt, and they start to walk the outskirts of the fair, passing by the backs of booths and the mechanical side of the rides. Scully fidgets nervously, picking at her fingernails with her eyes on the ground. A lump rises in his throat and he infers that she’s about to tell him that she can’t do it, that pretending to be together is more than she bargained for. Even though it would be a fake break-up of a fake relationship, he’s surprised by how much the prospect hurts.

Scully sighs and drops her arms to her sides, her eyes still on the well-worn path they are following around the fair. He’s thinking about what he can say to let her off the hook, to make this easier for them both, when she slips her hand into his. He looks over at her, surprised, but she stares straight ahead, so he threads his fingers through hers and waits.

“I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting,” she starts. “This is—uncomfortable for me. But it has nothing to do with you, and I don’t want you to think that it does.”

He stops walking, and she comes up short, turning to face him but keeping her eyes on his chest as the wails of customers riding the Music Fest compete with Tom Petty and his hammering heart as the loudest sound in his ears.

“What does it have to do with?” he asks.

They’re standing just beside a gap between booths, one of the secret channels the crew uses to circumvent the crowds when moving from place to place. She looks over and he follows her gaze, finding Jean watching them with a curious expression.

Scully turns back to him, this time with her chin tipped up so he can see her face. Her eyes flit nervously from his eyes to his mouth, her tongue swiping once over her bottom lip. She pulls in a deep breath and then steps closer, pushing up to her tip toes and pressing her mouth gently to his. He freezes momentarily, but then she pulls away just slightly before going in again, this time with parted lips and more pressure. Instinctively, his arms go around her waist and he lifts her just slightly off the ground, making it easier for her as her tongue slips past his lips and grazes his teeth. He responds in kind and a little hum vibrates in her throat, sending shockwaves of arousal directly to his groin. One more minute of this and he’s going to be sporting a massive erection, so he gently pulls away and sets her down.

She looks dazed, blinking up at him with bee-stung lips and panting breaths. Suddenly, her demeanor shifts and she looks down, then takes a step away from him.

“Shall we continue?” he says lightly, reaching for her hand. He breathes a sigh of relief when she takes it.

They continue their walk, chatting idly as their joined hands swing between them, until they arrive back at the cook trailer and part ways. He knows it was for show, meant to eliminate any doubts Jean may have had regarding the legitimacy of their relationship, but that knowledge doesn’t make it feel any less magical.

-

Scully waits for his knock with a nervously bouncing knee.

She keeps catching little remnants of their kiss, if that’s even possible at this point, the memory of the way his mouth tasted overwhelming her senses at random times. She never had any doubts that Mulder would be a great kisser, given his distractingly pouty mouth and his tendency to use it skillfully, but the reality of it left her reeling. She’d fumbled through the rest of the day in a haze, and now she’s afraid that the moment he steps through her trailer door she might throw herself at him and reveal the fact that her interest in kissing him goes far beyond the needs of the case.

“Penny! I can’t knock!” his muffled voice calls from outside her trailer, and she springs off the bed so quickly she almost trips, then takes a steadying breath before she opens the door for him. He’s smiling proudly, holding up two paper boats, and her stomach does somersaults. “Salad on a stick,” he says cordially, then steps up into the trailer and sets them down on the counter.

She surveys his offering, which comprises wooden sticks with cherry tomatoes, cubes of mozzarella, and leaves of basil skewered in an alternating pattern, and a dark drizzle over the top that she assumes is balsamic glaze.

“You’ve finally come to the dark side,” she says, then looks up to find him watching her.

She swallows, willing the warmth rising to her cheeks to abate, and then picks up one of the skewers and tries a bite. They stand beside the counter, pulling tomatoes off the sticks with their teeth as they talk.

“I guess Miranda didn’t show today,” Scully says, startling when her elbow brushes against his. “No one has seen her since last night.”

“She disappeared?” Mulder asks with raised eyebrows.

Scully shakes her head. “I’m not sure. Rachel didn’t seem concerned and said that ‘something came up,’ so it seems as though Miranda told her she wouldn’t be at work today.”

“That’s a bold move on your second day on the job,” Mulder comments dryly, and Scully shrugs.

“I’m actually hoping she doesn’t show,” she says, then quickly adds, “not because I hope something happened to her. Summer mentioned Dylan Joiner to me last week, just in passing. If Miranda flakes out, that could be a good opening to ask more about him.”

Mulder nods in agreement.

“I’m hoping to snag some time with Picker tomorrow,” he says. “See if I can find out what he was doing sneaking around with a shovel in the dead of night.”

“What do you think this teambuilder is?” Scully asks as she finishes her salad on a stick and tosses the skewer into the empty boat.

Mulder uses his skewer as a toothpick, scraping bits of basil from between his teeth.

“I’m afraid to even guess,” he says, and they are silent for a beat.

She can smell him, can remember the way his lips felt against hers, the possessive way his tongue invaded her mouth. She feels the flutter of arousal in her belly and she yawns nervously, a tick she is thankful Mulder never seems to have picked up on.

“Are you tired?” he asks with concerned eyebrows. “Do you want me to go?”

“No,” she says, perhaps too quickly. “I mean yes, I’m a little tired, but you don’t need to leave.”

She crosses to the bed and sits on the end of it, feeling embarrassed for not having kept it as a table until after he left. There’s something suggestive about a bed, no matter what their intentions are.

Mulder sits carefully beside her, and her heart leaps at his proximity and all the possibilities. They are quiet for too long, and her ears begin to ring. She stands abruptly and switches on the radio, then returns to her spot beside him. As the song plays, the lyrics make her blush again. She feels like a teenager bringing a boy to her bedroom for the first time. Mulder clears his throat, and she has to say something, anything, to end the awkwardness.

“I don’t think Mitch has given up, unfortunately,” she says, and he turns his head towards her sharply.

“Did he do something to you?” Mulder asks angrily, and she looks at him. His jaw is set, his expression intense.

“No, Mulder, he didn’t do anything,” she says emphatically, slipping up on his pseudonym. She’s used to him being protective of her, but not in this way.

“Good,” he says with a sigh, and she can see his body relax. “Oh, you didn’t see that dog today, did you?”

“Madge’s dog?”

“Yeah, the scruffy one. He wandered off and she’s worried about him. She hasn’t seen him since last night.”

Scully shakes her head.

“I hope he’s okay, I know what it’s like to lose a dog,” she says remorsefully, thinking of Queequeg.

“The garbage bags were certainly a lot lighter with him eating all the scraps,” Mulder adds, and she shoots him a look. “What?” he asks with a laugh.

“Did you ever have a dog as a kid?” she asks, realizing that he’s never mentioned any childhood pets.

“No,” he scoffs. “My mom was of the belief that animals don’t belong indoors. I did have a goldfish, though, after Samantha was gone.”

“Well, I suppose that explains your fondness for fish,” she comments, feeling the expected swell of sadness that occurs whenever she thinks about Mulder’s childhood after Samantha was taken.

Mulder shrugs. “They’re low maintenance pets, which works well with my lifestyle.”

“Your lifestyle?” she repeats, smirking at him. “And what lifestyle is that?”

“A man on the move,” he says with a great deal of conviction. “If I had a cat and had to, for example, take a little detour to Puerto Rico for a couple weeks, the cat would starve to death. Fish are much heartier, and they don’t cry for food at 5:00 am.”

Scully sighs wistfully, falling back so that she’s lying down on the bed.

“I think pets give you a purpose. Someone to take care of other than yourself. A reason to get up, even if it’s at 5:00 am. And they love you unconditionally.”

She feels the bed jostle as Mulder reclines beside her.

“Why didn’t you ever get another pet after Queequeg?” he asks, and she turns her head to look at him.

She can see by the look on his face that he expects her to say that she can’t because of work. Because of the need to pick up and leave on short notice, and how unfair it would be for a pet to miss her so much of the time. She’ll never understand why he goads her into saying things that hurt him.

“Just never got around to it, I guess,” she offers.

The conversation drifts, touching on topics they’ve discussed before and ones that have never come up. Her eyelids grow heavy but she never asks him to leave, continuing to talk with her eyes closed and her tongue thick in her mouth. Mulder tells a long, detailed story about some collegiate hijinks at Oxford, and somewhere around the part where the police show up, she becomes too tired to find out what happens next.

-

Rubbing sticks and stones together makes the sparks ignite, and the thought of loving you is getting so exciting. Sky rockets in flight! Afternoon delight! Aaaaaaafternoon delight.

Mulder groans in frustration, lifting his arm with the intention of banging on the wall beside his bed.

It’s not the first time Mickey has started his day with too-loud music at a too-early hour, but typically if Mulder gives him a couple stern knocks, he cuts it out. When he swings his arm, however, he only swipes at open air. He opens his eyes, and realizes he’s still in Scully’s trailer.

Slowly, he turns his head to the side and finds her curled up beside him, her mouth squished adorably against the surface of the bed and her hair askew. He smiles, feeling affection grip at his heart, and debates whether to wake her.

He rolls to his side so they are face to face and watches her sleep. The freckles on her cheeks have doubled with all the time they’re spending in the sun, and the tips of her ears are pink for the same reason. He can smell her breath, warm and sleep-sour, and it feels so intimate and so right.

After a time, her eyelashes flutter and he closes his eyes, knowing that she’ll be embarrassed and uncomfortable if she wakes up to find him watching her. He hears her stretch and swallow, and he waits to see if she’ll wake him or just leave. Eventually, he feels the brush of her breath on his cheek and he knows that she’s close by. He opens his eyes, and she’s just lying there looking at him. Watching him. A shy smile blooms on her lips.

“Hey,” he says casually.

“Hi,” she answers.

“I fell asleep,” he points out for lack of anything more significant to say.

“So it seems,” she says.

“I better go get started on breakfast or there could be a riot,” he says as he sits up and rubs the sleep from his eyes.

“I’ll see you in a bit,” she replies as he stands and heads for the door.

He steals one last look at her before he leaves. She’s sitting at the end of the bed, rumpled and flushed, and achingly beautiful. He wants to kiss her, but with no one around to see it, she may not let him. She smiles warmly at him, and he returns it before he steps out of the trailer.

“Well, would you look at that,” Summer calls loudly from her trailer two doors down. “If it isn’t the walk of shame. You have your panties in your pocket, Luke?”

He shakes his head, knowing that Scully definitely heard that, and hopes she isn’t too uncomfortable with everyone assuming he spent the night with her.

Which he did, technically, but not in the way everyone will think. Not in the way he wants to. The way he hopes he’ll get to someday.

Tagging @today-in-fic

[kirishimas-manly-eyeliner]

Agh girl ofc u post an event the ONE day I'm not active! Lol but fr CONGRATS!! (I'm just sad I missed event 4) can I get an event 3 pls? I'm a female, bi. stubborn, loyal and passionate. Enneagram type 8. Equality is super important to me. I read and write, sing, play video games, sleep and watch anime as hobbies. I have trust issues oop and animals make me happy :) in short I am a sassy, thicc, opinionated, supportive bitch. Lol. Love you!! Congratulations again!!!

THE CITY HALL MATCHES YOU WITH:

[ ♛ ] // katsuki bakugou \\ [ ♛ ]

how you two work so fricken well i’m screaming hi hello, i don’t know if you wanna have kids or not, but either way: YOU TWO. WOULD BE SUCH AMAZING PARENTS. IF YOU DON’T WANT KIDS EITHER WAY YOU TWO WOULD BE THE POWER COUPLE. he would be smirking, elbow resting on your shoulder and grinning, saying proudly during an interview, “ha! that’s my girlfriend. i fuckin’ love her.” AND HE’S DOING THAT GRIN?? YOU KNOW WHICH ONE I’M TALKING ABOUT RIGHT BECAUSE HE’S DOING THAT. HIS HAND ARM IS RESTING ON YOUR SHOULDER AND HE LIKES TO TALK ABOUT YOU ALL THE TIME

your chemistry hi hello, i need a there was only one bed + enemies to lovers with you and bakugou. now. you two started off hating each other-- because like-?? a hot n sexy opiniated blonde with another hot n sexy opiniated blonde makes CHAOS. aizawa probably had to pull you two away at one point. but you two kept on quarreling, trying to fight each other with volume, but then aizawa just goes “YOU TWO NEED TO SETTLE YOURSELVES.” so he like?? just gets rid of your beds and he’s like “FIGURE IT OUT, AND I WON’T EXPEL YOU-” and he just LEAVES YOU TWO (you wake up with your head resting on his chest and his arm making a pillow for you <333)

random SJSJSJJSJ on a day-to-day basis, you wake up and he has the coffee ready, he’s training and invites you to train with him as a pro-hero. he brags about you all the time. you two are on the covers of every hero issue and i just think that’s neat okay bc the queen deserves the best 😌😌

you walked up to the corner of the room, trying to find a specific spot where you’d sit down to write and focus that blocked out any unneeded noise. the ball didn’t interest you. it was just a lot of formal fashion and silence, and that didn’t sit right with you. to your surprise, someone was already there. “uhm... this is my writing spot-” “you got a problem with that?!” you jumped back, “hey! this was my spot!” “NO, it was mine, i found it first!” and before you knew it, you two were competing in volume until you got kicked out. once you two were alone outside the palace balcony, that’s where it all began.

[betrvyal-blog]

                   hey ya’ll ! my name’s dianne, i’m nineteen, & i never learned how to fuckin’ read. i live in pst & i got out of class like thirty minutes ago so this intro probably isn’t gonna make a lot of sense partly because i’m tired but also because i just suck. but yes, you know the jizz, click dat read more & hmu if you’d like to plot !!

liza soberano . ––––– was that leilana de león i just saw in new orleans? the 1000+ year old original hybrid who doesn’t look a day past twenty? apparently, they are here for the crystals, but who knows? they’re known to be intuitive & charismatic, but don’t let that fool you, because they can also be deceitful & selfish, so keep an eye out for them ; you never know who you can trust.

warning, subjects such as SLAVERY and ABUSE will be mentioned !! 

she was born in the 11th century to a small tribe on an island that would later be known as the phillippines. she was the youngest of five children, with all of her siblings being brothers. her mother died while giving birth to her so she was pretty resented by the rest of her family, to say the least. for awhile, she never had a real name; her father and brothers would just call her sumpa, which means “curse”. that’s all she was to them, the curse who’d ripped away their wife and mother. at the age of 16, her village was raided by vikings and she, along with many other people in her tribe, were taken and sold off as slaves. she’d spent four years in a constant cycle of being bought and then being sold again. she was always someone else’s property, never her own person. 

her whole life changed when she met agnus megalos. the witch treated her with kindness and compassion, things that the young girl very rarely had the fortune of experiencing. agnus offered her many things;  shelter, food, and even a family, but most of all, freedom. the idea of all the power that came with vampirism seduced the girl who’d been beaten and battered down all her life; this was her chance to become someone who’d no longer have to be anyone’s slave. and so of course, she agreed. after her transition, the newborn vampire finally gave herself a name: leilana de león. leilana promised herself that this girl she was now would never again be the nameless, weak shell she’d once inhabited.

with that being said, she hated having to stay in the shadows for so long. it made her feel weak. leilana never understood why she and her fellow originals had to stay under the radar, they were the most powerful creatures walking the earth, why should they? just like how she was with her father and brothers, leilana stayed the black sheep even within the original family. she always wanted more than what she knew was possible but despite her constant quarreling with them, leilana stayed by their side for centuries. they were her real family, she couldn’t imagine a day where she could ever leave them. 

after they stumbled upon new orleans, it didn’t take long for leilana to fall in love with city. this was the place where she and her family really settled down and lived their lives like they should. everything was perfect for awhile; she got whatever she wanted, ruled the city like she was its queen, and had the pleasure of sharing all of the glory with the family she adored so much. but of course, all that power just wasn’t enough. she and another original were finally able to release their suppressed werewolf sides, becoming the first of their kind, a hybrid. however, the success of their feat was short-lived. the werewolf rebellion happened and a fellow original died, and for that, leilana will never forgive herself. she consistently blames herself for maddox’s death, thinking that maybe if she’d just pushed away her need for more power, that piece of her family would still be here. 

the separation of the originals took a heavy toll on leilana. they were the only people who truly knew her, the only ones who she knew she could go to for anything. they’d stayed by each other’s side for centuries and without them, leilana felt alone. and leilana being on her own was not a good thing, especially after the death of a fellow original. her family has been the only people known to be able to control her, without them, leilana is a ticking time bomb. after they parted ways, she went off the rails. she traveled the world and left wakes of bodies everywhere she went. she went through dozens of lovers, turned so many people, and tried to drown away her sorrows with meaningless companionships. her grief began to numb itself out over time but the guilt never seems to go away. after hearing about the crystals, leilana wasted no time in returning to new orleans. the crystals themselves were intriguing, yes, but the hopes of seeing her family again was an even bigger reason for her to come back she’s not gonna admit it tho because #hugeego

now after all that shazam on her history, let’s talk a little about how she acts. alright so first thing’s first, don’t let all that mushy gushy stuff about her family get to you, leilana is a ruthless son of a bitch who has no problem killing anyone(except her bros and sisses duh). she is not generally a compassionate person, all of that emotion is saved for those who she ACTUALLY cares about. she may seem friendly at first but 9 times out of 10, she has an ulterior motive. all that charm and smiles ?? nah son, don’t even fall for that bc she is the definition of a Terrible Friend™. like no fr, she’ll be like “aye wassup wassgud” then you’ll be like “aye wassup wassgud” but then BAM she ends up stealing your man or something smh. she also has problems with authority ??? after having been owned by several people as a human, leilana just has an issue when it comes to answering to other people. oh and also, #grudgeholder, #shorttemper, #backstabberaf. she’s basically an ill tempered, whiny child hiding behind a friendly facade ?? 

some wanted connections ??

anyone that she’s turned because lord knows she turned a lot

this girl’s got a long history of lovers so that could be one 

someone from her past, maybe even from when she was human ? 

enemies/nemesis because god damn this girl’s a lil evil

someone she holds very close to her heart, can be romantic or platonic but obvs they’d mean a lot to her because it’s someone OTHER than an original

gimme someone who sees the good inside of her, someone who softens her up a lil 

a blood bag ?? this person is probs compelled not to know what she is unless she’s feeding on them because yes, she is that bitch 

best friend like yes i can imagine them partying together like crazy and leaving a trail of blood, dead bodies, and rose petals behind them heck yeah 

idk that’s all i can think of for now but i’m really down for just about anything

[leadrains]

it's been a long time since i have experienced attraction to thomas hiddleston

they talk weird but not in a historically accurate way

why is this giving cinderella remake

polite society gasping and screeching i would be too

oh the drama of it all

fighting for their lives to keep that candle from going out

knowing the big twist makes this less intense

theyre gonna kill him

this is definitely not something allowed in their society

why everyone watching their lover's quarrel

hes gonna die

fucked up

rip old guy he was nice i guess

ohhh manipulative motherfucker

he's hot sorry im diseased

skeletal balding white man

thats not allowed in high society

oh they are like going in for it too all up in this hotel hallway

:(

the grip that "white guy with light hair vs white guy with dark hair" has on hollywood

this is some desolate ass land

lord please tell me this is a real set and not green screen

YES IT'S A REAL SET LOOOORD i love movies

marvel and the modern excessive use of green screens has me truly fucked up

she moved from her modern american mansion to an old english murder house

i need a dog

why are the ghosts all fucked up

now i need to see if those were practical costumes or sfx

they did a really good job of creating atmosphere in spite of the dialogue

the costumes, set design, and performances are all outstanding

i know he doesnt really feel anything for her hes gonna kill her also hes ******* *** ******

oh ok i guess theyre just gonna

oh ok nvm

this is such a beautifully designed scene i wish i could have studied it for my old film class

fucked up

i keep getting actually scared

she needs to run

why do the ghosts have to look like that

the design of this movie is insane fr

now why did they have to be so aggressive

tom hiddleston is so hot and he is literally just some man

what the fucking hell bitch

there's gonna be a body in the clay

the screeching of the spoon...... the delivery of the lines......... this truly is cinema

is he switching up or

i hope he kills her

im not necessarily on his team i just hope he kills her

the sister just to clarify

how did they not notice she walked in on them fucking

girl u better god damn run for ur life

ouch ow

is she dead or

oh no ok

yes boyboss

i hope he doesnt die

nooooooooooooooo

ohhhh fuck she hit a major artery didnt she

ok so hes gonna survive? hes probably gonna bleed out i dont think stabbing him in a non fatal place will stop that

oh ok hes not gonna die

i mean he kind of is but i guess he'll last a while

the relationship is fucked up and disgusting obviously but the things the sister says about it are so beautiful and poetic

that blood was gushing

sharp ass pen

hes gonna die with his sister

sorry :) got distracted by the fact that im being accused of race faking. resuming now!

one of them is going to stab the other

yeah

rip OWWWWW EW OW EW OW Ewwwwwww kw woenendkwndjwksjsjs bad bad bad!

well now shes gonna try and kill them like she didnt just kill him

i hope the doctor isnt dead

oh god girl he is dead please run without him

STAB HER

grab the fucking knife before she gets there

why would she leave the knife there

GRAB THE KNIFE GRAB THE KNIFE

i hope she doesnt die

i got distracted again and missed the evil sisters death scene

are they gonna survive to make it to town

oh swag people came looking for them

ok it's over

love guillermo del toro

watching crimson peak

[on-the-wings-of-hope-prose-en]

Bureau

This particular day of Anton Pavlovich’s life went awry from the start.

At first his lawyer for divorce proceedings called him by phone and with affectedly false regret in own voice notified Anton Pavlovich that the second apartment in a center of Moscow, which Anton Pavlovich has honestly acquired by not-so-honest work can’t be kept in any way because it’s considered a shared property, acquired by him along with his nowadays almost ex-wife. Then some sort of fool from Godforsaken insurance company called him and offered “new unique property insurance package with fire-protection included” – and this, together with a sad fact of his country house, which has been burned almost to ashes by a lightning strike about a month ago, sounded almost like professional, even though accidental mockery. In a doorway of this exact Moscow apartment, which has been bought on money from pension system fraud, his new mistress Jessica has been already waiting for him and with a languid voice she inquired, when her “sweetie daddy” is going to buy her a new promised mink fur coat instead of an old one, given to her by a former lover. And this new mistress, to be honest, was quite a black sheep – but his previous unmarried concubine Victoria demanded such thorough and capital investments, that it was much easier and cheaper to hire some east harem than to continue satisfaction of her growing not by days, but by wallets appetites. And at this moment Anton Pavlovich could do nothing better than to form a false smile on his tense face and go together with Jessica to a new boutique.

What can we say? That regrettable for Anton Pavlovich day was destined to come to a failure from the start. Anton Pavlovich was pressing on his car’s accelerator pedal so hard, trying to get rid on the way to the boutique of one thousand of annoying thoughts, which have been importunately biting his raging mind, that he didn’t notice how he has exceeded allowed in the urban environments speed limit of sixty kilometers per hour. Or maybe just this last hour became like a whole life, stretching into its own eternity?

Fuel truck drove into a cross lane absolutely unexpectedly. It’s, however, quite possible that it, along with its driver Vasily Ivanovich, who has become quite drunk after a recent quarrel with own wife, along with Anton Pavlovich and aforementioned Jessica have all been waiting for this year, day, hour, minute and even second of this most fatal meeting? Alas, the answer to this uneasy question is hidden from us in faraway informational archives of the universe, and we are unable to satisfy this possible curiosity of our faithful readers. No matter what, but the moment when Anton Pavlovich and Vasily Ivanovich synchronously pressed on brakes, and Jessica stridently cried, hands of invisible to them clocks stopped for an instant, as if forever imprinting it inside a memory of the world, and then a second hand made its last “tac!” and stood still. Black tinted jeep crashed into the middle of a fuel truck at such a speed that fuel track rolled sideways – and followed explosion muffled even agonal shout of Jessica. Shockwave threw away two nearby cars and three pedestrians without inflicting them too much damage – for it was yet not their year, day, hour, minute and second. Huge fiery mushroom sparked over a place of tragedy – and then everything sank in a roar of a storming flame…

***

Anton Pavlovich opened his eyes, greedily grasping autumn air, which has been flowing along with sun rays through slightly opened windows into his bedroom. He slowly wiped his eyes with own fists, trying to get rid of a recent dreadful nightmare, and sat down on the edge of a bed. “What an awful dream!” – he was thinking, having not yet come to his senses. “Swindles, frauds, mistresses, road accidents… what our mind is capable of creating! Well, never mind, – the good news is that all of this wasn’t for real, it was just a dream, a simple dream…”

That way, continuing to calm down himself, Anton Pavlovich was gathering for work. Having already had breakfast, having already put on his crimson jacket and sat down into a black tinted jeep, parked near a house, already ready for new honest and not so honest feats, he suddenly caught himself on a thought that it has become somehow unusually deserted in a yard of his high-rise building – no signs of cars, or pedestrians, or even some kind of stray dog, which wasn’t traveling here anyway. “Perhaps, it’s a day off?” – an afterthought flashed in still slightly sleepy brain of Anton Pavlovich. “Precisely, day off! No further than yesterday I have finally got divorced with my silly spouse and was going to celebrate that moment today in a bar with my friends!”, – he remembered. “All because of that foolish dream! It totally drove me out of life!” Having repeatedly glanced over an empty yard of his house and having once again hemmed to himself, he struck pedals of his car and rushed through the gates.

Rare street pedestrians completely didn’t fit into an overall image of populous capital – they, having slightly stooped, were slowly moving on streets and, it seemed, didn’t look on each other at all. No sign of agiotage or any business turmoil and haste, so common for Moscow citizens… it seemed as if the city has become extinct – or have massively moved beside that distressful MKAD in a single incomprehensible instant of time.

There was no sign of a bar in the habitual address, as well as no waiter, who has been obligingly opening doors before visitors. Instead of familiar three-lettered word an updated sign said – “Bureau”, while the first two letters of it have been written in black, and subsequent two – in white colors; and slightly below the following text has appeared: “Salon of comprehensive otherworldly services” – and in this inscription white and black letters were going in turn. “Madhouse of sorts”, – Anton Pavlovich muttered to himself, slowly parking his jeep near bureau-bar. “What sort of bullshit these fucked marketing idiots do invent to attract more visitors”.

“We are glad to see you in our salon. Welcome to the Bureau!” a good-looking young man in a strange suit welcomed Anton Pavlovich once he stepped over a spinning glass door of this building.

“Tell me, man, are all of you, folks, dressed like that here?” Anton Pavlovich questioned with a jeer in his voice, while fixedly looking into the eyes of this newly appeared waiter.

“You must be talking about my wings, right?” showing no sign of confusion, he replied in return. “Frankly speaking, I have been in that form since the time of my birth – which, it should be noted, has happened several eons before your own. And, answering your next upcoming question, – this combination of colors in our poster symbolizes Free Choice – a very useful for mortals trait, which is, unfortunately, hasn’t been given to us. What else would you like to learn about the Bureau, my former workmate?”

“Workmate in what sense?” Anton Pavlovich was taken aback for a mere second, silly looking first at the waiter, and then deep into the hall of the unusual salon.

“In most direct and every day,” quietly answered the man with snow-white wings behind his back. “A companion for all of your past life, which has been taking place recently. Absolutely, by the way, unnoticed by you,” he added as if with a small piece of grief in his voice.

“Young man, are you even in your mind? To me you a total stran…”

“Then it’s a pleasure to get acquainted once again!” young “waiter” smiled and stretched his hand, which was shining with some kind of nacreous glow, to Anton Pavlovich. “All of our services will be completely free of charge for you today! Just follow me!”

“No kidding?” Anton Pavlovich strictly raised his eyebrow.

“No desire to do so,” the young man answered routinely. “I still have to bear responsibility for your course of life.”

“So, what kind of entertainments do you offer?” Anton Pavlovich continued to pursue his own goals. “I was planning to meet here with my friends, by the way.”

“With Jessica? Never worry, she is already expecting you here. I would even tell that she is exhausted from impatience,” smiled White-Winger. “But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and make it all right and in a correct order. According to our current action, we can offer you three of our most popular attractions completely free of charge.”

“Wait, what – you even keep a circus in your pocket?” Anton Pavlovich burst out laughing from own unsightly joke.

“No, no, may the Lord be with you! The circus is on the Earth, and we are different. What Lies Beyond, so to speak. We are currently carrying out an unprecedented action – we are telling all our future clients what is awaiting them in advance.”

“How’s that?” Anton Pavlovich showed a sincere surprise on his face. “In advance?”

“Well, you see… sometimes we are given permission to act that way. We already created similar actions… for example, about two thousands of years ago. We passed information regarding this action to you through one remarkable individual. What was his name… John, it seems. And his second name was so sonorous, as far as I remember, the… Evangelist, right! And today… well, you can see for yourself to what strange methods we should resort today.”

“So it turns out that your action is almost termless?”

“Well, you are certainly correct in some way. We just need to remind humankind about it from time to time. But let’s get straight to business! You surely haven’t got in touch with art for a long time, am I right, Anton Pavlovich?”

“I have pictures on walls in my home, modern kind. And bookshelves with some… classics,” answered Anton Pavlovich, trying to remember which classics were there.

“Then it’s a due time to get in touch with what is nowadays eternal. Welcome to the Cinema of Memoirs! Allow me to open a door for us…” and the White-Winged young man waved his hand, drawing something in the air. In a couple of seconds, a most real gateway appeared just in front of Anton Pavlovich’s stunned physiognomy – it was casting a same nacreous light like the one coming from hands of his unexpected interlocutor. “Follow me!”

“That’s how technology advances…” Anton Pavlovich hemmed to himself with astonishment. “What sort of inventions can scientists-physicists create. All thanks to western sanctions, no doubt!” he assured himself and stepped into the portal.

***

The room, in which both of them have appeared, indeed reminded of some sort of big Moscow movie theater – except for the audience, which consisted only of him and his mysterious fancy-dressed colleague.

“Fourth row, eighth place,” White-Winger noticed with satisfaction, taking a seat near Anton Pavlovich on a next chair. “Your place.”

“Why are we sitting so close? Let’s take places far away from a screen to better see all demonstrated events, there is nobody here except for us anyway!” Anton Pavlovich muttered discontentedly.

“Unfortunately, all other places are already reserved. They just seem as empty only now and only for you. Everything is actually much more complicated,” replied White-Winger. “And this place is just yours, for exactly when you were forty-eight those events, which you have recently ‘seen’ in a dream, have taken their place in your life.”

“And how did you learn about my recent dream…”

“Pay attention to the screen!” young man interrupted him. “Movie of your life is already starting!”

Large screen in a cinema hall, which reminded with its carved decorated edges some mirror from Middle Ages era, lit up with nacreous light, showing a small bed with protective partitions, where a small child was sleeping peacefully, smiling in his own dream.

“Memoirs of your life, beginning from the time when your consciousness has started awakening. You were about half a year, apparently. At that time, you were totally innocent, Anton Pavlovich,” young man commented on scenes.

…Meanwhile scenes continued to replace one another. Here the child uncertainly takes his first steps, stumbling and falling on a bottom. Here he diligently pulls a spoon into his mouth, being afraid to miss, eating porridge “for the father and for the mother”. Here he embraces a kitten, which was a gift in his childhood, and his eyes shine brightly with sincere children’s joy. Here he plays on a playground along with other children with steam locomotives toys, and here he takes a ride from a top of icy winter hill. Here he sails ships in autumn pools, which reflect a sky in themselves. Here he lays down together with a mother on a bed and hugs her in a sleep…

“They say that all children are precisely like Angels,” with a grief in his voice noticed White-Winger. “And adults are more like demons. These are the purest and sincerest memoirs of your entire life, Anton Pavlovich,” he continued, observing how a tear crosses a cheek of his former “workmate”.

…Pictures continued to lead their own life, replacing each other as in a kaleidoscope. Here the young “mean” man is being accepted into the Institute on protection. Here he goes to night parties with fellow students. Here parents present him with a luxurious expensive car and he uses it to the full to shine and flaunt before girls of easy behavior. Here he visits night bars and striptease clubs…

“It’s hard to tell the exact moment where everything has started falling down into the abyss,” White-Winger commented on scenes once again. “Whether it was my personal oversight, wrong education of parents, false life values of society or first and foremost your personal vital choice, Anton Pavlovich? The court knows that for certain – and I, to my own regret, don’t. I am left only with a hope that both of us will be given one more chance.”

…Images continued to float and move one after another, creating a unique feeling of repeated presence on own antecedents. Here an adult graduate of legal academy becomes an official. Here he runs roughshod over other’s feelings, deceiving and profiting on human laziness, stupidity, and fear, – believing sincerely that he lives only a single life. Here he brings a mistress – first, second, third, yet none of them is capable to bring him back that long-lost feeling of life’s joy – the one which has been living side by side with him only during a faraway childhood. Here he desires to tear all of this false life apart and become a hermit – but strong, too strong are now for his weak will his former affairs and ties…

“We demonstrate here only the brightest of your memoirs, which have been imprinted in a memory of your soul instead of a brain – and therefore became potentially immortal, having transformed into some kind of déjà vu. All other life’s nonsense, monotonous and gray life, boring and disliked job, frequent and repeating quarrels with your wife, which have brought both of you to a divorce – all of this was forced out from your brightest memoirs and therefore hasn’t been included in that movie. It was all kept in your personal record in Archives where we will soon go,” commented White-Winged “waiter”.

…Now pictures almost fly, promptly replacing each other just like years of life, rushing aimlessly before their owners, drenching them with the dust of life’s roads. New financial swindles, new “none will be the wiser” deeds, new quarrels with his wife, a new mistress – Jessica. Day of their meeting in a second Moscow apartment, trip on a jeep. Fuel track, which has appeared on the intersection of roads, pressed against the stop brakes, the terrified soul-tearing squeal of his new passion… TV screen suddenly went black and light in a hall turned on as if symbolizing the end of the movie session.

“Why… why has my movie ended on this shot… the very same from today’s dream. Why, may demons tear you apart, is that so?!” Anton Pavlovich angrily seized his white-winged interlocutor and started shaking him.

“Let’s not use the collective name of these spiteful beings in this place and context, Anton Pavlovich. You may happen to meet them face-to-face a bit later,” calmly answered white-winged young man, dexterously freeing himself from a grasp. “Let us better proceed into the Library of Fates, or, as some of us briefly call it, – the Archives. I do believe that your stay there will be able to shed some light on this question that torments you so. Shall we go?”

“All right, we go,” muttered Anton Pavlovich. “And then to my friends and Jessica.”

“Without a doubt,” confirmed young man. “They are eager to meet with you as well.”

A waving of hand – and once again a familiar silhouette of a portal appeared before Anton Pavlovich, along with a shining road that was leading deep inside it. Here he takes a step into unknown depths of this strange door and…

***

The Library was astounding. While movie theater somehow resembled the similar one in Moscow, the Archives, apparently, contradicted all imaginable earthly laws of physics. Their carved regiments ascended to such high infinity, that it was absolutely unclear, how they could even stand still under a mass of all the books that were filling them. Huge shining tables from unknown material and mobile ladders were obviously created totally not by human measures. Corridors branched and twisted, connecting and disconnecting somewhere in a far distance. Some warm lilac light was shining from a ceiling that was totally hidden from human’s sight. Fragments of floor melodiously ringed if anyone was stepping on them. Somewhere in a distance a sound of murmuring springs and singing of birds could be overheard.

“Here we store the history of all ever lived and still living beings of the universe, which do have a soul,” suddenly materialized before Anton Pavlovich white-winged companion answered as though to himself. “We constantly supplement it and therefore Library continues to grow, as it’s said between us, – not by days, but by fates. As you can see, it by no means intended to be visited by humans, – but we have been allowed to prolong our action for a little bit more.”

“Wait, are you trying to tell me that here I can get an answer to any of my questions?”

“Any question, concerning the past, yes. And the future of each soul-given individual in particular and of the worlds, in general, has many possible outcomes and depends on that Free Choice, which I have already mentioned earlier. However, access for you here is denied anyway – mostly the staff of Department of Fates Control, which is located nearby, manage here the process of transfer and obtaining of information. They are frequent guests here, by the way.”

“What-what department?”

“Fates. Control. Humans included. What’s unclear? You see, Anton Pavlovich, your mortal life on the planet Earth… how should I put it more clearly… is not one of a kind. It’s just in the last time you were named as Anton Pavlovich, and before that… and how you were called before that you can learn exactly from one of the books, located in this wonderful library. The book of your destiny, which you have been writing with own deeds. You acted – and we fixed these acts, and wrote them down, and kept here. We have even shown you these books once – through mentioned John, remember? Your civilization must have kept records of his visions.”

“And… why do you write down all of this? Do you write down everything?”

“Everything that is related to Free Choice, yes. We store it for future Court, of course. So no deception can take place. Some soul-given live beings in this universe decided for some reason that they would be able to deceive us, ‘to move around a middle finger’, so to speak. Well… let them try,” White-Winger burst out laughing. “We will write down this Free Choice as well, and take it into account in the Court.”

“And what do these employees do here? Are they here now?”

“Most likely here, but they usually stay in a working wing of the Library, and we are in a guests’ section right now. You see, some of the events, taking place in your physical world, – they, how should I tell that… are already predetermined in the highest world – by chains of your previous Free Choices, and sometimes by the will of the Supreme One himself. The staff of this department carefully watches for compliance between the fate and affairs of each soul-given live being of a physical world, and if necessary verifying its accordance with a plan of his new life, created by the individual before his birth and written in his personal book, and if such necessity arises – they try to correct fates of beings so that they can manifest themselves in a best possible way and realize all their inborn potential. Unfortunately, in a case with your civilization of a Milky Way, it’s hard to achieve that goal – the beings calling themselves as humans became too willful, evil-willful, and perceive attempts of the staff of this department to correct their distorted destinies as a chain of life’s disorders and troubles.”

“And can I… see the book of my lives?”

“Now you can,” confirmed White-Winger. For an instant, he touched Anton Pavlovich’s breast with a palm of his hand, and then waved in the air – and several moments later a weighty book from a top shelf of one of the racks smoothly descended on it like a planning bird, having automatically opened itself on the first page.

“Vibration code of your soul,” the interlocutor explained to Anton Pavlovich. “It’s easy to find a necessary book by it. So, what did you want to learn?”

“Here… what sort of lines and points are these? I can barely see familiar letters in this book.”

“These are maps of your previous Free Choices. You must understand that each choice bears certain consequences along with it and opens the opportunity for new ones, and together they all form maps. Points symbolize moments of decision-making when you choose one of the options from a set of them. Numbers above arrows are probabilities with which you would have chosen one option or another at the moment of your choice. These diamond-shaped figures indicate a degree of influence of related choices on choices and fates of other people. All of this may look a little bit unclear in a two-dimensional plane – but I, unfortunately, cannot show you at present moment spaces with more than three dimensions, however, I can assure you that in such spaces these books are read much more simply and pleasantly.”

“Useless paper crap of some sort and practically everything is unclear!” Anton Pavlovich sniffed angrily, vainly trying to find the moment of his meeting with the ill-fated fuel track in an artful design of signs.

“The language available only for chosen ones,” his interlocutor smiled again. “First and foremost for the staff of the Department of Fates Control.”

“Let’s get out of here while the going is good,” Anton Pavlovich added biliously, “to my friends and Jessica.”

“Well,” sighted interlocutor. “For preliminary Hearings then!”

***

“…Okhrimenko Anton Pavlovich is to be summoned into the hall of Heavenly Court for carrying out preliminary Hearings. Guardian Angel Michel is appointed as the lawyer of the defendant, Demon-Tempter Zakhurat is appointed as the accuser. The defendant and specified companions from his last life have arrived, Hearings are to be considered open.”

These words reached Anton Pavlovich’s hearing just at the moment when a portal, opened by his “workmate”, has transferred him with a soft melodious sound into completely new surroundings, which were resembling a court’s hall that has become habitual to him in a mortal life.

“I… what… where… what for? What a foul setup is that?!” muttered a newly teleported defendant, puzzly looking around himself and having not yet come up to his senses after so hasty change of space and own role.

“I shall explain you everything later, we will have time,” White-Winger winked to him while going to the judicial stand of white color, which was intended for him. The opposite stand of black color in another corner of the hall was occupied by dreadfully looking being with a tail, horns, and hoofs.

“The accuser, what can you tell us concerning last given to the defendant’s life in a galaxy of Milky Way on a planet formerly known as Gaia and nowadays being called simply as Earth?”

“T-h-h-h-i-i-i-e-e-f-f-f…” mischievously hissed a creature, vomiting sparks of dark flame from its mouth. “F-o-o-o-r-r-r-n-i-i-i-c-a-a-a-t-t-o-o-r. K-i-i-l-l-l-l-e-e-e-r-r. T-a-a-a-a-k-e-e-e a l-o-o-o-o-k…”

Suddenly images started materializing in a center of the hall, reminding former ones from a movie of his – Anton Pavlovich’s life – they only had more than two dimensions this time. A shot was replaced by a shot, showing everyone how Anton Pavlovich gives and takes bribes, meets with mistresses, indulges in alcoholic euphoria, and so on and so forth. This demonstration was finished with the last shot of the infantile-surprised face of the fuel truck’s driver and frozen in time shouting face of Jessica which looked almost alive.

“Quite a convincing presentation, Tempter. It’s obvious, that we are dealing with violations of three precepts and commissioning of three types of mortal – I emphasize, mortal! – sins. Does the protection party wish to have a speech?”

“Yes, your honor, I do have a wish,” and, having that said, Guardian Angel waved his wings and new images started floating through a center of the hall. These pictures now demonstrated how little Anton Pavlovich gently embraces his mother before going to bed; how he shares toys with other children from his yard; how he comes to the rescue of a school friend when teenagers from nearby district try to kick him to the death; how they walk in a park together with his beloved and future wife, how they truly love each other, at least for the first time…

“We thank you for that presentation, Guardian. The episodes, which you have provided, demonstrate that despite for a chain of serious violations of Heavenly Law, feelings of human compassion, justice and love were not completely alien for the defendant, which makes his soul potentially capable of Atonement. Whether the accusing party wishes to add something else?”

“W-i-i-i-i-i-s-s-s-h-h-h-h-e-e-e-e-s-s. K-i-i-i-l-l-l-e-e-d-d-d o-o-n-n-e-e-s-s,” horned being hissed once again, having clicked a floor of the hall with its tail.

And with these words the fuel truck driver Vasily Ivanovich and mistress Jessica materialized in a center of the hall each from his own portal.

“You!” Jessica immediately cried out with rage, having hardly managed to jump out her portal. “My murderer! If I have only known that you would ruin me that day I wouldn’t ever approach you closer than for a mile! And I need no fur coats from you, ever! Rascal! Beast! Killer!”

“Brother, you what… aye? Why you drove so… to red light? Didn’t you see… you go?” Vasily Ivanovich addressed Anton Pavlovich inquiring-puzzly. “I left my children there, my wife… who will support them without me, aye? You are a fool, brother, fool as you are!”

“Are there are any witnesses from a defendant’s side?”

“Yes, his mother.”

And once again a portal opened with a melodious tune, and Anton Pavlovich’s mother stepped out from it.

“I brought him up… as I could,” she said with a whimper and pain in her voice. “In Christ’s values. My husband was drinking, even though he was a banker. He accustomed my son to… fancy living… alcohol… my poor little son. And I… as I was able… in childhood… while he was pure… not to soil his soul…”

“Does the defendant want to add something? We should remind that, according to the rules, each and every of his word – whether kind or evil – can be used both as self-justification and as self-accusation, in compliance with the uniform Heavenly Law, established by the Supreme One.”

“I… well… didn’t know… what I was doing… I promise not to act this way from now on. To live with honor and conscience… and so on. Something like it…”

“All of them speak that way,” someone hemmed from the hall of jurors. “I didn’t know, I had no idea, give me, please, one more life…”

“I request to keep silence in the hall of hearings!”

“Forgive me, your honor.”

“If both accusing and defending parties have nothing more to add, then I suggest ending the first phase of preliminary hearings. This court session is closing.”

***

“Well… it could be much worse than that,” summed up the Guardian Angel, brushing away sweat from his wings. “You still have a chance – not a bright one, but at least one.”

“And you keep calling that as attractions? What kind of setup is that?! Return me back immediately, wake me up from this foolish dream! I still have a life, Jessica, divorced wife… I still have so many things to correct on this, how was it, Gaia!” Anton Pavlovich lashed out with fists at his newly acquired defender.

“Oh, my silly Anton Pavlovich!” sighted White-Winger with a grief in his voice. “You know what’s the hitch is? You don’t have a new life anymore! You have indeed died, my dear Anton Pavlovich…”

10.07.2017