#this is exhaustive proof. black swans who

[flustersluts]

lesbians are right about everything i think

[jazzanddaydreams]

Evidence and reasons to ship Sophiana that literally no one asked for

Disclaimer: I myself am a multi-shipper, so I ship both Sophiana AND Dexiana (and sokeefe of course), but anyway here's my reasoning for Sophiana (no hate to the other ships). This is WAYYYYY overly long and my adhd brain is crying trying to proof-read it so fair warning

1. Representation in this series. Even though I know it probably won't happen with these two, I can still dream. 

2. Both Sophie and Biana are strong independent females who have been sucked (mainly unknowingly) into love triangles in the midst of whatever mess is going on with the Neverseen. 

3. In the beginning of the series, Biana seemed to hate Sophie, but after persuasion from Alden, became friends with Sophie. From there, the two of them have had a couple of rocky moments (Alden's memory break, where she didn't hate Sophie, she just wouldn't talk to her or anyone, which is less harmful of a reaction that Fitz's. Also when Stina reveals that Biana became friends with Sophie initially because of her dad) but overall have been growing into good friends. 

Now for my evidence (be forewarned there's a LOT, but still not all my evidence bc I mainly skimmed through my books I had on hand): 

Book 1: 

Fitz in the first book is shocked when Sophie says she thinks Biana hates her, stating that they're  pretty similar (first book, I don't remember the page number or exact quote). 

 Page 272, in general, when Sophie hands Biana her midterms present, and Biana asks if she's coming over for dinner. After that interaction, both Dex and Maruca (Biana's best friend at the time) are glaring at Sophie. Maruca's reaction can be explained by being best friends and feeling like she's losing Biana (though hmm....), but Dex's reaction is a bit harder to explain, thus my reasoning. Dex at this time has a major crush on Sophie, and yes he hates the Vackers, but that doesn't explain why he's mad at Sophie, unless he feels like he has competition from Biana for Sophie's affections, and is glaring to try and stop her from forgetting he's an option (oh boy my poor child). 

Also just through the rest of this book, when Sophie is having troubles or avoiding her, Biana is actually worried, and cares about her friend, not lashing out at her, just wondering if she's going to come over, and being obviously disappointed when Sophie declines her invitations. "She's right though. Red is definitely your color." 

Book 2: 

Page 567. "'Uh, I've always known that,' Dex said, sitting on her other side. 'But remember? I like weird.' 'Me too,' Biana chimed in." We know later that this statement from Dex was him literally saying that he liked Sophie, but the big thing about this is that Biana agrees immediately after. Before Fitz agrees. This could be read as just friends, but I read it otherwise. 

Book 3: Page 590. Biana is fighting Gisela on Mount Everest, in extreme conditions. Sophie looks at her and is like "Did you know Biana could fight like that?" like she's impressed, and I mean it's very impressive because she's taking down an adult in extreme conditions, but they're in the middle of a fight, and Sophie takes the time to notice and point out Biana's fighting skills. Which seems a little bit ship-y. Later on this page she is written as smiling at imagining Biana fighting Fitz and Keefe and smiling, and then screaming when Biana almost dies, along with Biana's former crush (Keefe) and her brother (Fitz). 

Page 511. Biana literally hides in Magnate Leto's office when Sophie was getting her ability restricting circlet (HIGHLY FORBIDDEN AND DANGEROUS) and watches in silent support. She breaks so many rules doing that, and then to top it off, on this page she says she doesn't "think I could've been that brave." Which is extremely sweet given the circumstances, and knowing just how much she risked going in with Sophie and yet calling Sophie the brave one, it's just very sweet. 

Book 4: 

(Oh boy I love this one there's so much fuel here.) 

 Page 9. "Dex pretended to gag, while Biana stared at Keefe's arm around Sophie." This is generally read as Biana being jealous of Sophie getting Keefe's attention, but it can also be read as Biana being jealous of Keefe being able to get that close to Sophie in that way (and that is how I am choosing to interpret it). 

I would also like to point out that Biana chooses to run away with Sophie to be with the Black Swan. She doesn't have to. She could stay in the Lost Cities and serve her minimal punishment, then get back to her life. But she chooses the dangerous option to BE WITH SOPHIE, which speaks a lot about these two and how their relationship has grown from mutual animosity to ride-or-die friendship. 

Page 31. "'But we're in costume!' Biana argued. 'Yeah, but you guys will stand out. I mean...look at you. You look like models.'" Sophie literally says Biana looks like a model (along with the boys of course, but she's including EVERYONE in her group) (plus she also comments in her head NUMEROUS times that Biana is gorgeous, or pretty, or looks like a princess, and I don't know about you but I don't go around thinking about how gorgeous all my friends look, I mean they're all amazing people but I don't go around thinking "oh wow [friend] looks like a fabulous princess with their on point makeup and effortless looking outfit." It's just a little bit indicative  that Sophie might like Biana as more than just a friend, hidden in the deep reaches of her oblivion at least). 

Also I would just like to point out that on page 38, when the group sees the statue of David, Keefe immediately reacts to it, and Sophie has no immediate gross out factor, she's just like yeah it's art and this dude is naked so what, which I find a bit telling but idk. 

Bonus: Biana finds the fact that the statue is naked a bit disgusting, and is terrified at the thought of running into it, which also seems a bit telling. 

Page 77. aka the page where Biana compliments Sophie's eyes and calls them "striking and unique." 

Page 167, 168, 169. THEY LITERALLY SLEEP IN THE SAME BED TOGETHER TO COMFORT EACH OTHER. BIANA WENT TO SOPHIE'S ROOM FIRST WHEN SHE COULDN'T SLEEP AND IS IN NEED OF COMFORT, EVEN THOUGH HER MOM IS literally within walking distance away. 

Page 168 "The soft sound of Biana's breathing made the room feel warmer"

Page 615 "...especially when she realized Biana was there too. She pulled her soggy hair forward to cover her face. 'It's cold here.' 'It is,' Biana agreed. Sophie couldn't tell if the strain in Biana's voice was exhaustion or something else." This is after Biana and Alvar interrupt Sophie and Keefe basically cuddling in the cold after almost dying. This could be interpreted as Biana being sad that Sophie seems to be choosing Keefe over her, and she's struggling to deal with that. 

*~*

After these moments, Biana kind of fades into the background, along with Dex, until around book 8 (and even then....yes I'm a bit bitter that my girl doesn't get page time), so I'm going to skip ahead. 

Book 8: 

page 135. "...next to her daughter wearing a peacock blue gown with shimmering gold beading that was almost as stunningly beautiful as she was." Reminding you of her constant appeal to Biana's appearance, and also this is after Biana has been MAJORLY scarred, yet Sophie still finds her beautiful and oh look I'm crying now (onto the next!) 

Page 256: "'You okay?' Biana asked, plopping down beside Sophie on the grass and reaching out to brush some of the fallen pinkish, purplish, bluish petals out of Sophie's hair." this kind of thing is generally reserved for Fitz or Keefe, so I was SHOCKED when I read this. She's pulling the 'brushing the person's hair out of their face' ploy and I'm so here for it. 

Also, just Biana's reactions to Sophie dating her brother are a bit odd, as if she is only reluctantly okay with them being together. 

Unlocked (8.5): 

Biana's file: page 76. "Ultimately, though, Biana and Sophie have grown to genuinely respect and admire each other, and are now well and truly friends." This is under the heading explaining that Biana has trouble making friends because of complications with her brother,  and then goes on to mainly explain Biana's friendship with Sophie, which just...points toward the slim possibility of Sophiana. 

I'm not holding out a lot of hope, because I know it's probably not going to become reality, but I do have my reasoning and a decent amount of evidence, and I still can enjoy my ship from afar as the ship wars rage on. Because with these two gals, we could: 

1. Have the possibility of a healthy relationship where neither party is afraid to tell the other something

2. both balance each other out personality-wise

3. they've also gone through some rough spots but in all have retained a steady friendship in which Sophie isn't afraid Biana will betray her or hate her for anything (unlike SOME boys (I'm sorry, I love Keefe it’s just his decisions haven’t been all that great lately)) 

So yeah, tl;dr Biana and Sophie have the possibility of being in a great relationship built on support and trust and I put way too much effort into this

(Part 1 bc I’ll have more evidence eventually)

[flowerwept]

@nomaiel​ said: “ am i even a person to you? “

There’s a moment / and something in Hermes snaps / or will snap, look at Fandaniel after all he’s proof of that -- but it snaps NOW regardless of the temporal circumstances of their involvement, and Hermes lunges for the other, he who is too cowardly to have his own body, he who is --  “Don’t you dare put this on me.”  The words come out low and shaky, years worth of rage finally exposing the wound festering on Hermes’s heart. Fingers curl around the fabric of Fandaniel’s hood. Hermes is dimly aware that he is shaking.  “Don’t you dare. This -- OF COURSE YOU ARE A PERSON TO ME.”  Hermes adores life and love and all things this beautiful world can offer / the simple joys, one might say, and Fandaniel could have enjoyed it all too if he hadn’t let himself get consumed by rot. If he hadn’t insisted to the world I DON’T WANT TO BE A PERSON ANYMORE. And Hermes knows how that feels but he cannot let himself believe there is nothing more than this -- he just...can’t. There must be more.

Hermes has always believed in test results / Fandaniel has failed on his own accord.  “You are you --,”  no matter the shared soul between them, the one that fluxes and wanes in its resolution and HERMES IS SO SORRY for the pathetic one Fandaniel had to inherit, HE KNOWS HOW HARD IT IS TO WORK WITH AND HE’S SORRY. he’s --  “ -- You are the one who has forsaken your personage. Amon.”  The fingers in the hood loosen, but only marginally.  “You did that. You.”

“Not me.”  At once, the rage leaves Hermes’s body and he releases Fandaniel, crumpling forwards, suddenly exhausted. His head hangs low like a swan’s, black hair cascading down over the nap of his neck. In his lap his palms lie face-up.  “I’m so tired.”

[maerrybom]

Villain or Victim?

oops I haven’t written the first diary entry for thalia dhsjd - her route doesn’t follow the black swan incident from the game, but she’s still an orphan tho,, + tw: character death, distressing imagery & abuse, mention of blood

found in masterlist

Thalia’s Diary - Entry 1

Flashback

I didn’t... I didn’t mean to do it.

“You—You monster! A vile being like you should’ve never been born!”

The crazed woman hellishly screamed at my fear-stricken face, lunging at my tiny body and firmly wrapped her fingers around my bandaged neck. Hot, painful tears rolled down my swollen, bruised cheeks as I tried to plead for my life. Her grip around my neck tightened as the seconds pass by while I poorly attempted to claw at her hands. It was getting hard to breathe.

“M-Mother! Please..! Don’t kill me..!”

Please don’t.

Hopelessly, I thrashed against the ground as my mother continued to strangle me, draining the air out of my lungs. My head was already starting to feel woozy but I still managed to muster up all the strength I had and desperately scratched her arms instead, feeling some of her blood coat my fingertips.

“You’re an abomination to this to this world! You deserve to die..!”

Please... Please let me live!

My sore throat was burning and my cries echoed against the walls of my head, shouting at the heavens in misery. But, my frenzied cries fell in silence as the heavens watched my infernal torment with cold, distant eyes. The glorious skies that I always looked up to had done nothing but look down on me. I was doomed.

“I brought you into this world... I have the right to take your life away!”

No... No... I want to live...!

All of a sudden, I felt an intense wave of heat rush through my veins and I thought that was the end of me. However, my mother jumped away from my body and horrifyingly began to scream in anguish in front of my petrified eyes. I hastily crawled away from her in fear into a corner, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away at the dark, crimson flames that coated and swallowed my mother whole. This time, it was her turn to struggle for her life and she threw & kicked the furniture in the process as if she was trying to extinguish the flames away. It wasn’t working.

My mother was dying.

I felt my breath hitch at the realisation, feeling like my heart stopped as the shivering dread dug into my skin.

This isn’t my fault.

I shouldn’t have never—

Present Time

“Thalia! Snap out of it!”

As if woken up from a dream, my mind was forcibly pushed back into reality as my eyes glared at an unfamiliar face. The shaking man looked at me in both terror and panic, silently pleading to me for his life. My glared darkened, enough to send him to his knees and make his blood run cold. He whimpered in fear as the grip I had on the collar of his uniform tightened whereas I studied his bruised face in subtle confusion. Who’s this guy? Why am I here?

“A-A demon! She’s a demon!” Someone yelled nearby.

What’s going on? I was starting to feel dizzy and felt my head pound painfully as my brain was trying to remember how I ended up being in this situation. All I remember was how I was leaving class to head back to the safety of my dorm. Why am I here? I don’t remember seeing this guy before.

“Thalia!” A firm hand gripped my shoulder to pull me away from the student as they immediately got up and scrambled away from me.

“Thalia.” My tired eyes landed onto a familiar raven-head as he looked up at me in disappointment, but I could also tell he seemed a bit worried. “Are you alright?”

“...” I didn’t want to respond as the exhaustion prevented me from doing so.

“Senpai? Is she really the newbie you were talking about?”

I was already feeling incredibly lost and quietly watched the two males in front of me. The raven-head shook his head at my lack of response whereas the unknown brunette stared at me in both concern and uncertainty.

‘Right... Wasn’t his name Johann? Who’s the lanky one?’ I thought, trying to register their faces in my head.

Johann then turned around and glared at the people who stood nearby to gossip and watch the scene unfold. “Go away.”

With his command, all of them scurried away with their tails between their legs. I didn’t even realise there were people staring at us—staring at what I’ve done. As soon as they left the three of us alone, my knees buckled beneath me and felt myself beginning to fall out of fatigue. But then, strong arms wrapped around my waist as they helped me up to keep my balance.

“Woah! That was close.” The brunette exclaimed as my eyes locked with his in shock.

“Luminous, carry her. She needs to get to the infirmary first.”

Ah, so that’s his name. I couldn’t hear anything else afterwards, but I felt myself being lifted into the air and carried away from this place. Warmth rushed to my side as my head harshly bumped against something firm, rattling the lingering thoughts in my head.

“Oh shoot..! Sorry... Um...”

My brain felt dead-tired to focus on anything and yet I ended up staring at the sight of my bloody knuckles. The bandages around my numb arms were also stained with blood and they were loose as if someone had tried to forcibly pull them off. This confused me even further.

Then, my eyes drifted towards the brunette that was currently carrying me. Quietly, I observed him and he stared back once he noticed how my stare laid upon his face. We both seemed to take in each other’s features as my steel orbs swirled with his amber ones in wonder. This boy... looks sort of lame. Yet, I can see that there’s a look in his eyes that was hidden beneath the surface as if it was afraid to see the truth.

The brunette also watched me with an odd look on his face and I can tell that he’s still wondering who I am. Although, I’ve also noticed how loud his heart was pounding against my ear and I can feel the blood rush through his veins in the arms he held my limbs with. 

‘His heart is beating so loud...’

But, I didn’t mind it. His beating heart put me at ease, feeling my erratic senses finally calm down. Abruptly, something collided against my side that brought me out of my hazy state and quietly whined in response.

“Ow...”

“Luminous!”

“Ah! Sorry! Sorry!”

This brunette, Luminous, got so distracted from staring at my looks that he ended up walking & clashing us against a lamp post. He sheepishly apologised as Johann gave him a deadpanned expression before continuing to walk in front of us. Luminous was obviously embarrassed to look at me anymore, but I kept  my eyes on him and watched his cheeks flush with red.

I wanted to laugh at his face, but a sharp pain jabbed at the side of my ribs and caused me to wince in pain. What exactly happened that put me in this state? Did I attack that student from earlier? Is this his blood on me then? Why? My pondering look must’ve caught his attention again, looking at me in worry at first before smiling reassuringly.

“Don’t worry,” He said. “We saw everything that happened, so it’s not your fault.”

‘What? Not my fault? There’s no way it wasn’t my fault.’

“That student schemed against you and that caused you to act violent.”Johann explained, keeping his eyes forward as we entered a building. “They will be punished as soon as possible.”

‘But I attacked and violated someone. I’ll still be punished.’

As if he read my thoughts, Johann responded: “You may not have been ‘conscious’, but you still provoked him. The CCTV cameras at that area is proof enough to claim you as the victim, so you’ll most likely receive a warning or a few days of suspension. You still need to explain to the Disciplinary Committee what happened before you ‘lost consciousness.’”

'I’m the victim? Me?’

My mother’s voiced echoed in my head: “You’ll become a tyrannous villain! You must cease to exist!”

“So really, don’t worry!” Luminous brought my attention back to him. “If you’re scared, I will take care of you as your senior!”

My bewildered expression gazed at his bright, genuine smile. I didn’t expect this at all. Has.. anyone smiled at me like that before? How strange. He’s also kind of... annoyingly amusing.

“You’re...” I began, “odd-looking.”

“W-What..?” The boy stared at me in shock, gaping at me like a fish. “What do you mean?! Here I was thinking of how pretty your face is but now your personality is just ugly!”

Once again, I laughed at his remark and ignored how painful my side was. He seemed surprised at that, angrily blushing in response and grumbled something under his breath.

“Quit your yapping.” Johann commented.

“But—!”

Luminous couldn’t even finish his sentence once he laid his eyes on my smiling face. He was giving off a dazed look in his eyes, so I brought my bandaged hands close to his face and flicked his forehead.

“Ouch! What was that for?!”

What an odd guy.  

[let-it-raines]

Catch Me If You Can (24/?)

298 days. That’s how long Killian Jones was away from a baseball field. It’s less than a year, only part of a season for him, but it might as well have lasted a decade as he alternated between physical therapy and spending an excessive amount of time sitting on his couch.

But then he came back and won the World Series.

It’s something no one saw coming, and it’s certainly not something anyone who knows about his arm would predict. Now it’s a new season with new possibilities, and anything could happen. On-field reporter Emma Swan will be there to cover it all even if she is not his biggest fan right now.

Asking her out live on-air will do that.

Rating: Mature

a/n: I hope that absolutely everyone is having a fantastic Friday!

Thank you to @resident-of-storybrooke​ for being my beta and resident turkey expert 😘

Found on AO3: Beginning | Current

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Tag list: @stunningswan​ @eala-captian @galaxyzxstark @xellewoods @mariakov81 @ultraluckycatnd @royalswan @shey-starsfury​ @superchocovian​ @sals86 @iam2307 @ashley-knightingale @karenfrommisthaven @scientificapricot @captswanis4vr @ultimiflos @jamif @idristardis @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke @tiganasummertree @bmbbcs4evr @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615 @mayquita @captainsjedi @teamhook @notoriouscs @kmomof4 @ekr032-blog-blog@cs-forlife @andiirivera @jonirobinson64 @qualitycoffeethings​ 

-/-

“Emma, what are you wearing tonight? Because I know that it’s August and blazing outside, but it’s also not as hot in LA right now as it is in New York, which makes no sense. I just can’t decide.”

Ariel has been rambling to Emma about what she’s going to wear tonight for the past ten minutes, and Killian has watched as Emma has simply responded in little grunts and one syllable words as she focuses on her phone. It’s not at all like Emma to not give someone her full attention, especially someone she likes and enjoys spending time with. But she’s been staring at her phone this entire time, bottom lip continually being tugged back into her mouth by her teeth, and he can’t quite figure out what’s going on in that head of hers.

“Sweetheart,” Eric sighs, rising from his chair in their hotel room to walk over to Ariel’s suitcase to pick up some of her loose clothing, “wear your green dress. I think Emma might be a little preoccupied with work. She does have a game to cover in a few hours, which kind of comes before dinner.”

“Huh?” Emma asks, looking up from her phone, eyes darting around the room, before she’s darkening the screen on her phone and placing it face down on the table. “What are we talking about?”

“Ariel wants to know what you’re wearing to dinner tonight, love,” Killian supplies, arching his brow and nodding over to Ariel. “You’ve been a bit distracted.”

“Oh, sorry, work. Um,” Emma stutters, adjusting her legs in her chair, “I have this, like, blue and white maxi dress that I think I’ll wear, probably with my white sneakers instead of heels because I know I’ll be exhausted after the game and heels are just too much.”

“So casual?” Ariel asks.

“Yeah, casual. That’s okay for the restaurant we’re going to, right?”

“Yeah, it is. Belle’s dad knows the owner because I swear to you that girl has all of the connections in the world, and he’s gotten us a private room so that you guys can come with us.”

“Remind me to thank Belle for that, Swan,” Killian says, reaching over to her and squeezing her forearm. “I rather like getting to go out to dinner with you.”

“Yeah,” Emma smiles, “me too.”

“You guys are so cute.”

“You guys are nauseating.”

The words come at the same time from Ariel and Eric. Ariel is staring at them like they’re both shiny pieces of gold and Eric is scrunching up his nose in disgust, and all Killian can do in reply is shrug his shoulders.

“You guys literally asked us to come in here,” Emma laughs, and he hears her phone buzz again even if she ignores it. “You’re not allowed to complain if we’re guests.”

“Technically, my wife asked you in here because she found out we had an adjoining room, and she has no sense of personal boundaries when it comes to Killian.”

Ariel slaps Eric, her lips parted in surprise. “That is not true.”

“Eh,” Killian sighs, scratching behind his ear, “itit kind of is.”

“Killian Jones, that is not true.”

“Last week you asked me to check to see if you’d managed to shave the back of your upper thigh.”

“That was important! I needed to know if I was walking around with a giant patch of hair.”

“A, it was covered by your dress. No one ever would have had to know.”

“But I knew.”

Killian huffs, falling back into his chair as his hand inches down Emma’s arm so that he can tangle their fingers together and squeeze all the while Eric is rubbing his hands up and down his face and Ariel has her hands on her hips starting him down.

Collectively, they are a mess.

Individually, they are also a mess, but that’s entirely beside the point.

“You guys are all really weird,” Emma finally chuckles, looking over at him with this smile that Killian is sure is the most beautiful smile in the world. “Wear the green dress, A. I’ve got to go get ready to go to work, which all of you probably need to be doing too.”

“We’ve got five hours until the game starts.”

“Yeah,” Emma sighs as she stands up, “and you guys still haven’t done workouts. I’m not interested in dating losers, so I need Killian to get his ass in gear.”

Killian barks out a laugh before reaching forward and slapping Emma’s ass, making her jump a little bit before she’s sauntering out of the room with a very pointed sway of her hips.

The minx.

-/-

Elizabeth Olsen.

Sweet Cheeks.

Batman and Robin.

Professor Jones.

All in all, they’re not the worst jersey names they’ve ever had for Player’s Weekend and all of the ridiculousness that comes with being able to pick the name that goes on the back of their black jerseys, but it’s also not the best. And Killian really doesn’t want to know why Eric chose Sweet Cheeks for his name. That could be entirely innocent, but he’s betting that it is most definitely not knowing he and Ariel.

Just…no. He’s not going there.

Will’s name is probably his favorite considering he almost did Scarlet Witch but decided to be a little more literal so that approximately seven people would understand the reference despite the popularity of the Marvel universe. Robin’s is pretty obvious, and, well, Killian is lazy and simply went with Will’s nickname for him.

None of them have future careers as comedians after this.

Not a one.

But that’s fine. They’ll let other people be funny, and even if he does need to start thinking about his future – as everyone else seems to be lately – today is not that day.

Today is the Saturday of Player’s Weekend, Eric just hit his two hundredth home run of his career, they’re all going out to dinner tonight, and all Killian wants to do is enjoy the day.

Good days should stay good days.

Even if Emma seems distracted and a tad bit distant.

It started when she was staring down at her phone this morning in the hotel room. She said it was work and went back to her normal self, but then when they got back to his hotel room and she started getting ready for work, she was distant again. Some mornings are like that. He gets it. He doesn’t always want to talk to someone or be talking to someone, so he let her be as she curled her hair before pulling it up in a ponytail and then got dressed in a pair of shorts that hug the muscles of her legs and her own customized jersey that Ariel got for her as some kind of further proof that she is part of their team now more than ever.

All it says is “Swan” on the back, but he thinks that’s enough. She deserves it.

But he’s not entirely sure what’s going on with her that has her all distracted, and he never got a chance to ask this morning before the team was taking the bus to the stadium and Emma was getting into a taxi to do the same. She’s five feet away from him in the dugout right now, but he definitely can’t ask. That would be giving away far too much to people who don’t know and can’t know.

Sometimes keeping all of this a secret is exhausting, but until Emma is ready to handle the unfortunate backlash that will come with others knowing, he’s more than good being a little exhausted for her happiness, especially since a lot of the struggle was because he was once an unintentional ass. They’ll keep it quiet as long as they can and then hopefully one day they’ll stop caring so much and simply go to dinner or a play or a jog in the park on a Saturday morning without caring who sees them together.

Emma’s the one who’s been through all of the sexist shit, though, even if he has had a not-so-great relationship with the press, and he’s all for waiting for Emma.

“Damn, it’s hot,” Will huffs as he steps down into the dugout after getting struck out. “I’m pretty sure I’m dying.”

“That sounds like an excuse, Scarlet.”

“Eh, eh eh,” Will scolds as he grabs a cup of water and pours it over his head, water droplets falling off the buzz cut, “today I am Elizabeth Olsen, the younger sister of the Olsen twins. What ever happened to them anyways?”

“I think they design clothes.”

“How do you know that?”

“I am very into fashion. Can’t you tell by how much effort I put into my outfits every day?”

“You don’t even own a Hawaiian shirt.”

“The fact that you think it’s fashionable to dress like a middle-aged tourist is highly questionable,” Killian laughs, reaching over to grab himself a cup of water. It is extremely hot today, and Killian can feel it over every inch of his bones. “Do you also wear your white socks halfway up your calves?”

“You gotta do what you gotta do.” Will flicks the water off of his head and knocks his knee into Killian’s before nodding over at Emma and Jeff as they look at something on Jeff’s camera. “What’s up with Emma today? She seems off.”

Killian’s eyes dart around the dugout, looking to see if anyone is paying any attention, but they’re not, each of them too preoccupied with the game.

“No idea, mate. I’m going to talk to her tonight.”

“Did you screw up somehow?”

“Why does it have to be something I did?”

Will shrugs, kicking his foot at the ground to knock some dirt out of his cleats. “Seven times out of ten, it is.”

“And yet you call me Professor Jones when you have statistics like that.”

“I’m a man of many talents.”

-/-

They win that afternoon.

-/-

“Killian, can you zip up the back of my dress?”

“I tend to like your dresses unzipped, but if the lady insists.”

He can’t see Emma’s face right now, but he knows that she’s rolling her eyes at him. Quickly, he finishes tying his shoes and stands from the edge of the bed to walk over to Emma and move her hair off of the back of her neck so that he can pull the zipper the rest of the way up to cover her back. She’s very obviously just sprayed perfume, the smell of vanilla invading his senses, and he takes a moment to breathe it in before pressing his lips against the back of Emma’s neck and lingering there while his hands find purchase at her hips, pulling her back to him.

“You smell amazing.”

“I bathed.”

Killian chuckles into her neck before kissing her there again and nuzzling his scruff into her skin. “How much time do we have before dinner?”

Emma laughs as her hands pat his over her stomach. “Not enough time to have sex if that’s where your mind is going.”

“Dirty, Swan. That’s not at all what I was thinking.”

“Liar.”

“I’m telling the truth.”

“Okay,” she sighs hesitantly, looking into the hotel room mirror in front of them so that she can actually see him as he can see her, “what do you want to do then?”

“Talk about why you’ve been in a weird mood all day.”

“I have not been in a weird mood all day.”

“Swan, everyone has noticed it.”

“Everyone is imagining things.”

He arches a brow, the disbelief clearly written all over his face. “You can talk to me about anything. You know that, right?”

Guilt immediately weighs down on his stomach at the sound of his own words. Here is he is telling Emma that she can tell him anything, practically goading information out of her, and he still hasn’t told her about his shoulder, about the full, ugly truth of his injury. It didn’t bother him today, not after Archie massaged it, and yet something is still tugging at him to tell her.

Maybe he wants to tell Emma that he’s been struggling with his arm, that he went through more surgeries than she knows, that his scars are more than the ones on his arm and his shoulder. Maybe he simply wants to let Emma know everything, but fears stay strong no matter how fearless he can sometimes be.

It’s the most idiotic thing, still not having the courage to share something with her, but how is he supposed to admit to actually being broken when she doesn’t think that about him?

Or maybe saying it out loud means that he’s fully admitting it to himself, and that might be the scariest part of it all.

When is he going to get over these fears?

But that doesn’t matter. None of it does right now. Something has been bothering Emma all day, and it’s likely a much bigger deal than his own demons fighting for dominance inside of his mind.

“I have some news,” Emma finally says as she tugs her bottom lip between her teeth and raises both brows.

He’s got no clue where she’s going with this.

“Good news or bad news?”

“Good. I mean – ” Emma stops talking and moves out of his embrace, turning around so that she can look at him as she props herself up on the desk. “I think it’s good. I hope it is. It’s just not…it’s not officially confirmed or anything yet, so I didn’t want to say anything.”

Killian gulps, nodding his head along as his mind tries to figure out what exactly kind of news it is that she has. “Love, I’m all for telling me things when you’re ready, but now I feel like I really have to know.”

She chuckles, shrugging her shoulders and making herself smaller. “David, a month or so back, asked me if I wanted to try and be an official commentator for a game, you know? And obviously I said yes. That’s, like, one of the dreams, but I didn’t want to only get it because of David so I’ve been talking to executives and having all of these meetings, and I got an email this morning that they’re very tentatively going to let me work during the Rangers game on Labor Day.”

Holy shit, he thinks.

“Holy shit,” he says out loud too before taking the two steps forward and reaching down to place his arms under Emma’s ass so that he can pick her up in a hug, his excitement for her coursing through his veins and possibly being a little too exuberant. But then Emma’s wrapping her arms around his neck and her ankles around his hips, and there’s nothing else that matters except for how happy Emma is right now. “That’s fucking incredible, sweetheart. I’m so proud of you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Killian confirms, nodding his head up and down into her neck before pulling back only to press forward again to slam his lips into Emma’s in a messy, happy kiss that never has time to deepen because of the smiles on both of their lips but that is wonderful all the same. “You’re a badass. I hope you know that.”

Emma blushes out of what has to be a bit of shyness, something that is totally unlike her, and all he can do is smile in response and hitch her up a little higher in his embrace while her hands curl into his hair.

“I mean, I have David and I’ve been lucky and I – ”

“Hey, no,” he stops her, walking them over to the bed so that he can sit down since Emma is fully-grown woman and he did play a baseball game today, “don’t diminish your accomplishments because you’ve had a little help. I have too. And enough people try to take things away from you that you don’t need to do that as well. You are incredible, Emma. No protests.”

Her lips curl up at the sides before she leans forward to rest her forehead against his. “Are you just saying all of this to butter me up since you’ll be pitching in that game and want me to say good things about you?”

“Oh, absolutely, love. I fully expect you to talk about me as if I am the greatest baseball player of all time with the greatest ass. I want completely biased treatment.”

“I think that might give away our little secret.”

“Nah. It’ll just show that you have good taste.” Emma sighs against him, and Killian feels all of the guilt wash away from him. This is so incredible for her, and she deserves it. So much. “I am so proud of you, and I love you so much that it’s ridiculous.”

“I love you too, twenty-nine. I’ll try to slide in a very subtle comment about your ass.”

“That’s all I ask.”

There’s a banging knock on the door before suddenly it’s opening and Ariel is walking through the door with Eric right behind her.

“Oh my gosh, why have you guys not been answering my texts? I – oh,” she stops, and Emma buries her face in his shoulder while he rubs his hands up and down her back as some kind of comfort or apology for not remembering to lock the adjoining door between this room. “I didn’t mean to interrupt something. What exactly…what am I interrupting because that’s kind of any interesting position, and I – ”

“A, oh my God,” Killian groans, slowly moving Emma off of him so that she doesn’t flash Ariel and Eric, “you are ridiculous, and you’re not interrupting anything. We are both still fully clothed and ready to go to dinner.”

Ariel shrugs. “If you say so.”

Emma stands up from the bed and adjusts her dress, brushing all of the winkles out of it. “I just need to fix my makeup real quick, okay?”

“You might want to do that too, man,” Eric says as he points at Killian. “You’ve got a bit of red lipstick stuck in your beard, and I don’t think that’s your shade.”

They go to a Mediterranean restaurant in Pasadena, one that Ariel swears has both good food and a private atmosphere where no one will pay much attention to them – not that he thinks anyone in LA really cares about a bunch of baseball players from New York when half of the people in New York don’t care about them – and to her word, as soon as they get there, they’re shuffled into a back room. It’s a bit much, definitely more precaution than anything, but he’s thankful for it anyways as he pulls out Emma’s chair and she settles down next to him with a smile on her face as she and Belle start talking about books that he knows for a fact that Emma hasn’t gotten to read yet since they’re sitting on her bedside table.

Emma has three categories of books placed around the apartment.

(1)On her bedside table that means she’s started but hasn’t come anywhere close to finishing.

(2)On the bookshelf in the hallway between she and Ruby and Graham’s rooms. Those books have been read but are never going to be reread and are collecting dust.

(3)On the coffee table in the living room. Whatever is there is at the top of Emma’s list, and he knows that if he picks it up, he can see folded pages and little marks from where she’s been devouring them.

Every single book Belle is talking about is on that fated bedside table, probably won’t be read until sometime in December when Emma has off from work, but Emma seems just fine chatting away about them with Belle like she has actually read all of them. But then again, Emma and Belle apparently text pretty often, so he’s not surprised that they get along well. Hell, Emma gets along with everyone in his life, even if it’s a little bumpy, and he couldn’t ask for more on that front.

On any front.

Damn. He’s gotten entirely too sentimental today.

“Are any of you actually going to eat an actual meal tonight?” Belle questions as they’ve all ordered their drinks. “Or is this going to be one of those nights where you guys all get grilled chicken and salad?”

“What is wrong with grilled chicken and salad, babe?”

“Nothing. But we didn’t have to go out to eat for that. I could be wearing sweatpants in the hotel.”

“A woman after my own heart,” Emma sighs, picking up the glass of water in front of her and taking a sip. “I feel like the fact that they’re on stricter diets now is good for them and for me, you know? But I also just end up eating all of the bread that Killian doesn’t eat.”

“And I thought that was just me.” Ariel picks up a roll from the middle of the table as she says this, and Killian has to stifle his chuckle. “But Will eats worse than any of them, so I imagine there’s not a lot of leftover bread to begin with.”

“Oi, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“That you eat like you’re a teenager,” Robin answers. “Or my six-year-old son. But then again, sometimes I struggle to get him to eat any food if it’s not in the shape of a Disney character or some kind of chicken.”

“I’m guessing not the grilled chicken you all eat.” “Actually, yes. It’s very popular in his book right now. I think it’s been in nearly every packed lunch he’s had for the past two weeks.”

“I think I’m going to have one of the pizzas,” Killian interrupts, knowing that Robin is about to go into an extremely detailed explanation of Roland’s eating habits. “Or maybe pasta. Possibly the Moussaka. Swan, do you want to get some of the mozzarella balls?”

“Do I want to get something involving fried cheese? Do you even know me at all?”

Killian shrugs, squeezing Emma’s thigh from where his hand has been resting. “I mean, I feel like I’ve got a pretty good grasp on your cheese preferences.”

“Is that an innuendo?” Will asks.

“Scarlet,” Killian laughs, “how the hell would that be an innuendo?”

“Well, you know, with the – ”

“Nope,” Ariel interrupts while raising her arm in the air. “Nope. I am about to have a cocktail and a hell of a lot of pasta, and I am not hearing some kind of weird cheese innuendo that is going to ruin cheese for me forever.”

“But I – ”

“No, Will,” Ariel continues, and Killian can see everyone hiding the smiles on their faces, “don’t even bother. You can talk about all of your cheese innuendos on your wedding day because that is your day and you get a free pass.”

“Well, gee, Ariel, that’s so nice of you to give me a free pass on my wedding day.”

“Yeah, I think I’m going to veto that too. I’m the one who actually sleeps with you, and I don’t want to hear anything cheese related.” Belle shakes her head in disgust, her eyes rolling with the movement. “but speaking of the wedding, I need all of your guys to go have your tuxes fitted at some point since we’re buying them instead of renting them. I know we still have a lot of time until then, but I just know that it’s going to fall by the wayside since we’ll be smack dab in the middle of baseball mating season.”

“I think Belle is calling us unreliable, you guys,” Eric says.

“Yeah, that’s definitely the vibe I was getting,” Killian agrees. “She also basically implied that we’d be fucking like bunnies the moment the season ends and not be able to leave our homes.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t mind that,” Emma laughs, and Killian nearly chokes on air with his laugh.

“Does Roland also need to do this?” Robin asks, completely messing up their conversation? “The tux fitting, I mean.”

“Yep,” Belle answers. “His tux is going to match yours because he’s going to be the absolute cutest ring bearer in the world, even if we aren’t giving him the actual rings.”

“Honestly, good plan. People should not give rings to children, even if supervised. That’s a disaster waiting to happen. Roland can’t even get his homework from the kitchen table to his backpack some days.”

“Where’s the wedding again?” Emma asks, twisting her chair put still placing her hand over his on her lap.

“Pier Sixty in Chelsea. It’s – ”

“Oh, I know,” Emma laughs, and he’s reminded of just how beautiful she is when she laughs. And of how proud he is of her too. And that he should probably officially ask her to be his date for this wedding so that she’s not walking around thinking that she’s not going to be a part of it. “I live in Chelsea. I know all about it. That’s a gorgeous place. The view of the Hudson is incredible from in there.”

“When have you been there, love?”

“Work Christmas thing when I was an intern. Mary Margaret stayed home with Leo, and I got to be David’s plus one, which was really nice if not a bit overwhelming because I definitely had far too many glasses of wine for someone who wasn’t technically supposed to be drinking yet.”

“Scandalous.”

“I try.”

This starts an entire conversation about the wedding, from the food they’re serving to if they’re having a band of DJ. Eric makes the suggestion that they serve hot dogs and soft pretzels like they’re at a baseball game since everything in their lives seems to revolve around baseball, and the glare that Belle shoots him is so sharp that it could cut into the salmon that Killian orders. Honestly, though, finger foods like that are not a horrible idea since he’s never been one for stuff atmospheres with dry chicken or steak cooked in a way that he dislikes, and Killian almost makes a mental note to file something like that away before he realizes that filing information away for a wedding would mean that he is mentally planning his own wedding.

That’s too much for tonight.

But Belle and Will are going with authentic French food because of Belle’s father and her family in France that she gets to visit once or twice a year, and they are having a band. There are also a million other things, ones that he’s having a hard time keeping track of, and despite how many people he knows, he hasn’t actually been to a wedding since Liam and Elsa got married at Elsa’s parents’ house with one hundred other people jammed inside so that there was barely room to breathe, let alone think about dancing or sitting down with a plate of food.

That was a nice day, though. His brother was absolutely beaming, something he always seems to do around Elsa, and all that mattered was that the two of them were together. That’s kind of always all that matters underneath the rented ballrooms and tailored outfits.

What in the world is he ever going to do with his tux after he wears it to this wedding? It’s probably going to sit in his closet and collect dust forever.

“How are we doing the bill tonight?” their waitress asks them after they’ve all eaten and laughed until their stomachs hurt. “Separate? Together? By pairs?”

“Separate,” Ariel tells her. “I go with – ”

“Just put it all on one bill,” Killian interrupts, pulling his card out of his wallet only for everyone to start to protest. “Nope. This is my treat. Honestly, do not try to argue with me. I’m paying for it.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Belle sighs.

“Hush,” Will hisses, and Killian hears Emma laugh next to him. “If Professor Jones wants to pay, let him pay.”

“Thank you, Elizabeth Olsen.”

Will rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t protest. That’s who he is for every game this weekend anyways.

Everyone else gets up to go outside to where their Ubers are going to pick them up while he and Emma wait inside for the bill, Emma still sipping on her drink even though there’s only the slightest bit left in the glass. Quickly, though, he’s signing the check and the two of them are walking through the back entrance of the restaurant so that they don’t have to go through all of the other people.

“So, speaking of getting married,” he starts.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Emma laughs, looking up at him with raised brows and pursed lips.

“Calm down, Swan,” Killian sighs, shaking his head from side to side. “I’m not proposing. I realize I had a poor choice of words there, but I count myself as more of a romantic than to propose by the kitchen of a Mediterranean restaurant.” He doesn’t say that they’re nowhere ready for that. It’s not needed. “I meant to ask you if you would be my date for Belle and Will’s wedding. I realize it should likely be implied, but I like you to know.”

“You planning on keeping me around that long? That’s all the way in December.”

“Of course. I’ve got to have someone to kiss on New Year’s so I don’t look like a loser at my brother’s house, so you’re going to last at least until then.”

“I mean, if you’re spending your New Year’s Eve at your brother’s house, you’re already a pretty big loser.”

Killian throws his head back and laughs before lifting his arm and wrapping it around Emma’s shoulder, tugging her closer to him so that he can brush his lips against her temple before pushing the back door open. “You’re a gem, my love.”

“I’m also apparently your arm candy.”

“Nah, you’d have to be sweet to be that.”

Emma slaps his stomach then, hard, but he doesn’t care as he continues to laugh while they walk to the curb of the sidewalk where their Uber should be any minute now. “You’re being an ass.”

“I’m your ass.”

“Now that’s just weird, twenty-nine.”

“But a good kind of weird.” He kisses her temple again, and Emma’s cheek presses into his shoulder. “Do you want to stop somewhere for dessert to celebrate your big almost promotion? I hate that we couldn’t really talk about it tonight since you didn’t want to say anything until it’s official.”

“It’s okay. We can celebrate when we get back to the hotel, if you know what I mean.”

“By getting that dessert.”

“Exactly,” Emma smiles up at him, pressing her hand against his chest.

[satanwithboobs]

The Mask (Dazai drabble/songfic)

length: 580 words genre: angst? I guess? summary: Dazai reflects on the past (and the present) on the anniversary of his old friend’s death. tw: suicidal ideation (it’s Dazai, pretty sure his name and that concept are basically synonyms at this point), a couple of references to blood.. death

it’s not proofed, but I spend a decent portion of my working life proofing other people’s writing, so I’m pretty sure it’s at least decently coherent.

oh, and if anyone has any fantastic ideas for some gut-wrenching things I should write about, hmu. I’m always looking for ways to inflict emotional pain flex my writing skills a bit.

based on this song: The Mask (stripped) - Matt Maeson

Well, I felt the burns Since the day you departed and talked from the tomb I'm still healing those wounds

His shoes sank deeper into the wet ground as he stood, motionless, hands buried deep in his pockets like a casket buried in the cold ground.

He ignored as the rain fell on his face, like tears he knew he was incapable of shedding.

“You won’t find it,” he had said. “You must know that already.”

He remembered that moment like it had only just passed. The metallic stench of blood that pierced the air was different than it had ever been before.

Once upon a time, it had provided the suicidal man the type of solace that made him want to keep living, if only to grasp that same high just one last time.

But as Dazai cradled the former assassin in his arms, the smell was nothing short of repulsive.

And it holds me down But made me a man that says ”F*ck all those rules, I will be who I choose”

“Nothing in this world can fill that lonely hole you have,” he stated. “You will wonder the darkness for eternity.”

Odasaku’s words were nothing the bandaged boy hadn’t thought himself countless times, but hearing them fall from the mouth of his only true friend pierced his heart like a bullet.

“If both sides are the same,” he proposed, “become a good man.”

But could a man without a soul ever hope to be good?

His heart was black. He didn’t have the right to be good, and he knew that. He knew damnation was all he was destined for. The universe would never accept the salvation of a man like him.

But, then again, the universe didn’t call the shots. He did.

Were you ever here? Or just lost on the surface that at the first touch just evades in the dust And it pulled me down And showed me my demons lined up in a sequence, forming a crowd

In hindsight, he shouldn’t have been surprised at how easily the boss had betrayed a pawn.

Both men possessed near-unparalleled strategic minds, and the elder of the two was paralyzed by the prospect of his own inevitable defeat at the hands of the younger.

Had it not been his friend, Dazai probably would have applauded the move, recognizing the brilliance in it.

His fists clenched tightly in his pockets as a soft sigh leaves his lips.

“I’ll pour one out for you, friend,” he said, turning to walk away. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

I settled my grievance by crafting a mask And I never looked back

In past years, he had spent this special day in melancholic recollection and reflection. He even took a swan dive off a high bridge the first year, knowing it wouldn’t do much except increase his dry cleaning bill.

This year, however, after buying the usual at Lupin’s, he found himself taking a rare detour to the office.

Before he assumed his new life as a detective, he wondered how exhausting it would be to wear a mask every day for the rest of his hopefully short life.

But he kept forgetting to take it off when he left work, and eventually the man staring back at him in the mirror was no longer the dark-eyed demon he once was.

Instead, his eyes began to contain the hint of something he’d written off as impossible for a monster like him:

Happiness.

[ariadnassecretdiary]

The black swan lake AU - Fourth act

*Mun Ari: Are you ready for some romance? Good~ I hope you like it :3 BTW! Happy new year!!

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

Ariadna came back the next day as promised.

It was a little awkward, after all they were in something similar to a fight and coming back as nothing wasn’t easy. 

“How about we start from the very beginning?” Ari asked as soon as they met the next day.

“What you mean?” Kino replied

“Like this” she said offering her hand “Hello, my name is Ariadna Koizumi. Nice to meet you”

“Are you serious?”

“You’ve got a better idea?”

Kino sighed and took her hand.

“Prince Kino, likewise” kissing the back of her hand and Ariadna blushed from the action.

“Why is your face so red?”

“N-Nothing! A-Anyway...how old are you?”

Their little game went on and on with each passing question. They would even go for walks and slowly got to know each other a little better each passing day. Each question lead to another and it turned out they never ran out of topic for conversation. This story could go on and on with each passing day and all they talked about, but we’ll skip a little time until this certain day. This peculiar day they started as they always did: with their daily question game.

“Does your highness have any sort of hobby?”

“I used to be quite busy, so not really”

“That is a shame~ really you don’t have any?”

“Hmm...maybe stargazing?”

“Really?”

“You’ll find it weird, but I look up to the stars and just wonder…” he suddenly stopped.

“What is it?” Ariadna insisted to  Kino into telling her.

“When I was little… I used to watch the stars whenever I felt lost or lonely. It made me feel better”

“You...you were a solitary boy?”

“At a very young age, my father placed me in charge of one part of his kingdom. He isolate me from my brothers. I never understood why… until I thought maybe he had big plans for me”

“It must have been hard on you…”

“That is when Yuri’s family moved over to the castle to look after me. We grew together and has been next to me ever since. He was the only person I had to talk to anyway”

“You didn’t have friends?”

“No… in fact whenever I went out children would make fun of me and some even dared hurting me. They took advantage I wasn’t that strong back then. They will tell me I wasn’t important to my father and that I was abandoned by him. If they knew who they were talking to back then…”

Ariadna felt a knot forming on the pitch of her stomach after the story he just revealed to her.  

“Even then, I did everything I could in order to protect my people. I conquered and made alliance between neighbor kingdoms so that my realm would be prosperous. That is why I watch the stars now and then. They helped me and still do. I feel like they guide me”

Ariadna was moved from Kino’s words, he was kind that was the proof of it. Yet Ariadna couldn't help, but feel empathy for what he just had told her. She knew the feeling so well unfortunately. She placed her hand over his somehow to comfort him.

“What is the matter?”

“I-I...n-nothing” she tried taking her hand away, but he took it instead.

“You went pale for a moment, tell me”

Ariadna sighed before speaking

“When I was little… I used to enjoy being in constant company with children my age. I was very friendly you see. Then...out of nowhere they started pushing me away. I didn’t understand why, until I overheard them saying I was weird and that what was the point on being friends with me if I wouldn’t be useful to them”

Kino listened without saying a word.

“However… unlike you I had my sister and parents with me. So… I sort of understand what is like to be pointed out just for being different and to be on your own. Is admirable you overcome it and carry out your responsibilities”

Kino smiled and so did Ariadna.

Ariadna never had the chance to talk about her past other than Akane and Naomi. It made her feel exposed, but strangely enough...comfortable.

“They supported me and in order to make them proud I started working in being the lady that they would be proud of,  someone worthy and valuable: believe it or not I’m skillful as a knight~”

“Is that so~? I can’t imagine you being the tough type”

“I can prove it if you want to~”

“Interesting~ then…on guard”

Kino stood and took out his sword from his belt and so did Ariadna with a small giggle.

They fought on a friendly match. The swords touched causing a metallic sound and some sparkles even appeared momentary from the impact. Ariadna tried keeping a serious face, but she was having so much fun just for the match that would smiled and giggle.

 At a certain point, Kino made a movement that made Ariadna lose balance in order to avoid being hit by Kino’s sword. Kino retrieve the sword and tried avoiding Ariadna’s fall by pulling her from her arm. That ended in both of them in the ground Ariadna below Kino and looking at each other’s eyes. Both opened their eyes surprised and went silence. Ariadna’s heart was beating so fast…was it the exercise they’ve just made or was it close they were from one another?

“Are you ok?”

“Y-yes…”

They didn’t made the attempt to move. They just kept staring and Ariadna felt her face red from embarrassment. 

“You are good, but not enough to beat me” Kino spoke in a teasing tone.

“Y-You were just lucky since I f-fell, but next time I’ll beat you!” Ari replied trying to distract her attention from this strange situation. 

Kino simply laughed and stood up. He then offered her his hand to help her, which she accepted. Once up, however, the moss from the ground made her slipped and almost fell once again. Kino helped her remain in place by grabbing her by the waist. Now, they were really close from one another. Ariadna blushed harder and tried getting away, but Kino wouldn’t let her.

“I-I’m so sorry! I’m u-usually not this c-clumsy!”

“I find that statement unbelievable~ if it wasn’t for me you would have fallen once again~”

“Yet! T-The first time it was you who made me lose balance!”

They looked at each other and laughed. They laughed for just the silliest things recently. When the laughter stopped Ariadna tried pushing Kino away, but again he wouldn’t allow her to do so.

“You know, I’m safe now. T-Thank you for the help”

“It was nothing”

“W-Well...is getting late, isn’t it?”

“Yes, you’re right”

“C-Could you...let go of me?”

“Of course”

Nothing…

“H-How about...now?”

“Not yet, is not safe”

“Huh?”

Ariadna couldn’t understand why wouldn’t he let go of her. Yet, she waited. Ariadna tried to avoid Kino’s gaze, he was looking at her so intensely that made her nervous. Even the way he looked at her from time to time wouldn’t help …  just like he was doing it right now.

“Kino! She’s co– oh… Am I interrupting something?” they were interrupted by Yuri that came to them is a hurry.

They both looked at Yuri and Ariadna took advantage of Kino’s distraction to get away from him.

“I really have to go Kino… S-See you tomorrow!”

And with that Ariadna waved at them and ran towards the exit.

“Seriously Yuri?”

“I see you’re making a good progress with Miss Ariadna”

“You think so?”

“You don’t want to see it Kino, but from what I saw… you two have become closer”

Kino was about to reply when he sensed Sabine was arriving. Kino was having enough of her constant visits, but if things were according to plan… it wouldn’t be long before everything would be over.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Ariadna threw herself to her bed. Her heart beating against her chest. She ran as fast as she could back home and her face was burning hot.

(What was that just now? Why would I be so clumsy? Why he refused to let go of me? What was that gaze he was giving me? But a better question would be… why it took me so much to actually do something about it?) Ariadna thought.

Many things were changing between them lately… or that’s what Ariadna thought. She felt he got to know him even more, he seemed to be nicer and kinder to her, they seemed to have many things in common, they had fun even over silly things and they always felt time would fly when they were together… or was it just her? What worried her the most was that, lately, she had caught herself thinking about him almost all the time.

(Lately… I can’t seem to control myself when I’m around Kino. I feel so nervous and is so hard to act as if I’m calm. This side of him that I’m seeing is so different from the first… which one is the real Kino?) 

The memory of that evening’s event came back to her mind. She still felt his firm grip on her waist, the intensity of his gaze, how their bodies were so close to each other, even the smells surrounding them. For a moment… it was only them.

Ariadna grabbed a pillow to cover her embarrassed face.

(I-I don’t seem to be bother by many things he does and says, on the contrary I don’t want to miss anything about him. He’s so attentive and kind… hold on… c-could it be…!?) 

She muffled a scream with her pillow.

(Oh no… I-I… I fell in love…with Kino…!?)

Now, she was scared. She had only fallen in love once and it didn’t end well. Then there was the mystery: how Kino felt for her? What if she confused things? If she were to tell him… would he correspond her feelings? What if he didn’t? Would he made fun of her? And then there was his curse… what it was all a dream and he will disappear eventually? 

So many questions were eating her in the inside… she was terrified.

(Now… what I’m going to do? I can’t help having this sensations whenever I’m with him, when we talk, when we touch… just what I’m going to do…?)

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Ariadna did her best to act normal. Yet, not matter what she tried she couldn’t help but blushing now and then, tremble or just stutter when she spoke. She couldn’t look at him in the eye. Kino noticed it, but Ariadna would refuse it and simply find an excuse for her behaviour.

However, one day Ariadna felt exhausted. She was a mess, her heart was a mess. She felt like she lacked air and for her own well being decided to take a rest. She didn’t want to see him, at least until her mind and heart were in order. Although a part of herself felt really guilty for not telling Kino about her sudden absence. Yet, she hoped he’ll understand.

“Where is she?” Kino walked from one side to the other impatiently.

“Have patience Kino, she might be delayed that’s all” Yuri tried to calmed him down, but Kino wouldn’t listen.

“She’s never this late. Something must have happened”

“Why you say so?”

“Because she’s been acting weird lately. She avoids looking to my eyes, she stutter more lately, she stops me to get close to her…”

“Maybe she’s sick? Lately, her face is constantly red… maybe she has a fever”

“That… or she has enough of me once again” Kino states with a hurt tone.

“No… that can’t be”

“Yuri, do you remember when she almost drown in the lake? She entered there to retrieve this” Kino threw Yuri the small purse where the ring laid inside and Yuri went silence.

“Of course she fail, but can you imagine what would have happened is she had succeeded?”

“She would be long gone…”

“Exactly”

“Yet… she didn’t. And since then she has come back each day”

“But for how long? I don’t know what is going on!”

“You need to calm down, you can ask her when she comes”

“What if she doesn’t?” Kino grunted “lately, I haven’t being completely myself”

“Why you mean?”

“I can’t seem to keep Ariadna away from my mind… Maybe…”

“Maybe?”

“Maybe I care a lot for Ariadna, but I don’t understand why”

Yuri looked at him and finally said:

“I see… maybe you haven’t realize that you’ve fallen in love with her?”

Kino opened his eyes in realization… so that was how being in love felt like? Having that someone in your mind and being unable to be completely yourself? Knowing all this still made him wonder: why he felt uneasy not knowing what to do next?

“Now that you know: what are you going to do?”

“I’m don’t know… I need answers. I need to see her!”

“What?”

“I’ll go for her”

 “W-Wait! No, Kino you can’t!”

“No! I need to find her!”

“There’s no need, I’m right here”

From the forest emerged a figure, as it got closer and the moonlight illuminated it’s face it showed no other than Ariadna herself. 

Kino went to greet her and Ariadna went to his encounter as well. Once they were close they looked at each other. However, Ariadna broke contact and lowered her gaze. This didn’t go unnoticed by Kino. There was a moment of silence and Yuri knew that they had many things to talk about.

“I think you two need to talk in private” Yuri said and finally left them alone.

“What it took you so long?”

“I-I had some problems t-to attend…”

“Do you realize such huge crimes you’ve committed just now? Abandon me and making me worried is something unforgettable!”

“B-But now I’m here…”

“I want you to take responsibility for what you’ve made”

“W-What? How?”

“I just want you to answer a simple question”

“I-I’ll try…”

“Lately you’ve been acting strange: just what is going on with you?”

Ariadna opened her mouth trying to find an answer, but no words came at first. She breathed in and said:

“I-I don’t know what y-you mean”

“Don’t play dumb, you look very nervous around me and won’t even look into my eyes. What is it?”

“I’m sorry…”

“Why are you apologizing? I want you to say it clearly”

Ariadna felt her heart was about to burst inside her chest. How could she tell him… that she can’t help feeling this way for him? That is something she can’t completely explain or even control?

“K-Kino… I want to know why is it that you insist in spending time together? D-Don’t get me wrong! Being with you is delightful, but I f-feel something has changed between us and… m-maybe it is only me, but I want to know what is it”

“What is it what? You need to be more specific”

“Why you made Yuri-san bringing me here in the first time? Then, after our discussion you wanted me to stay even though we didn’t like each other back then. Finally, you agreed to change in a way… why are you doing this?”

Kino looked at her serious. Ariadna was scared for a moment she had said something to make him angry.

“F-Forget it! Is j-just that I’m so confused lately… maybe is just my imagination” she laughed  nervously.

Kino made her go silence, then he finally spoke:

“You want to reason as to why you were brought here in the first time, don’t you?”

 Ariadna nodded and waited for him to answer her.

“You are well aware about my curse, but you don’t know the story behind it.

As you know, I’m a prince from a very distant kingdom: the raven kingdom. I was highly respected and of course many wanted to either being my allies or they wanted me dead. It was the same thing with the ladies. There was this certain girl that would be very insistent, called Sabine. She kept trying win me over, but back then I wasn’t interested in anything other than my responsibilities as a prince. However, she decided to declare her feelings for me and I have to confess I was cruel towards her. I humiliated her, because I thought she was only after my power or wealth and that she was just any other girl. Yet she had knowledge of magic and she was the one that placed the curse upon me, Yuri and took everything away from me by keeping me here”.

Ariadna felt her heart sinking. Sure Kino was really mean towards the girl, but he also had suffered as a consequence. She looked at him and she could see how he truly regret his actions. He did had changed, besides she know him for a while now to read into his eyes and actions when he was being honest… and this one was one of those moments. Ariadna finally came to a decision. 

“Kino… I want to help you” Ariadna broke the silence.

“Help me? What you mean?”

“The spell, the spell that was placed upon you”

Kino tensed.

“Is not that easy”

“P-Please tell me! It pains me to see you in this situation. T-There must be a way to break the spell!”

“There is”

“Really?”

“And that is by marrying Sabine: marrying the witch that placed the spell on me… you must understand that doesn’t sound appealing at all” Kino’s joke sounded rather bitter. 

“W-What? N-No! There must be another way!”

“Indeed, there is another way”

“Really? Tell me!”

“For the curse to break I need to find a girl who would be able to love me just the way I am right now. She has to love me back and then…”

“And then… ?”

“She has to prove her love to me by making a declaration of her love to the world”

Ariadna swallowed. That was sure difficult…

“Ariadna” Kino suddenly called her and when she looked at him he took her face into his hands.

“I first brought you here to help me break the spell by fool you into make the declaration, however…”

Kino caressed Ariadna’s cheek making her shiver and blush.

“However, I changed my mind about you”

“W-What you m-mean?”

“Ariadna, I came to realize something: When I met you I could only think in how much you irritated me. Many times I wanted to get rid of you, yet I noticed I couldn’t take you out of my mind. That time when you almost drown I didn’t think twice before I jumped and save you. I was really hurt when you tried to get your ring and ran away from me…”

Ariadna listened to him and felt her heart racing. 

“Then you changed everything. You wanted to get to know me, I’ve never shared so many things about my private life since I’ve never felt comfortable about it… only you could make that possible. What I’m trying to say is…”

Kino brought Ariadna closer by pulling her by the waist and Ariadna felt the air leaving her lungs.

“I’m in love with you Ariadna. And I want you to be in love with me too”

Ariadna blushed deeper with Kino’s declaration. Was it a dream? Was it really happening? She looked to his eyes and they matched his words. They looked at her with so much honesty and certainty that Ariadna felt a warmth inside her melting her whole being. 

“Now, I’m asking you: Would you...be willing to fall in love with me?”

That was it: his eyes, his words and just everything about him moved Ariadna deeply and her heart was now shouting for her to answer. Ariadna then took a deep breath and finally said:

“No”

“No!?”

“No… b-because I’m a-already in love with you…”

“You are!?”

“Kino… j-just like you said: when I met you I really c-couldn’t stand you. I couldn’t see you as a mere m-monster and I was so scared of your cruelty. Yet when you s-saved me, I decided to give you another opportunity. And I’m so glad I did! I saw that below that mean and spoiled attitude… You are so funny, c-charming and so kind that I-I couldn’t help, but f-fallen in love with y-you.”

Those words were exactly what Kino needed. He leaned down and captured her lips into his in a kiss. Ariadna opened her eyes surprised, but slowly closed them to correspond it. The kiss was tender and gentle, they could feel their feelings flowing from one another. Kino pulled her closer to him to deepened the kiss and Ariadna allowed him to do so. Her legs trembled and she felt like her whole being was melting for the sensation. Ariadna felt like the rest of the world had vanished and the two of them were the only ones left. She felt like a dream and wished for it to never end, it was her own fairytale.

When they separated they joined their foreheads to enjoy the moment. They lacked air, but it didn’t matter. Ariadna felt like crying from the happiness her heart was experiencing, but the conversation they had just a few minutes ago made her heart ache. She really wanted Kino to be happy and for that: she needed to help him with his curse.

“I-I’ll do it” Ariadna finally stated

“Do what?”

“I’ll do it! I’ll m-make a declaration of my love for you Kino”

“But… it has to be in front of everyone Ari”

“I know…”

“Are you sure… you want to do it?”

“O-Of course! B-Because…”

Ariadna hugged Kino tightly.

“Because I want to you to be free”

Kino was so moved, she was going to do it… for him. He was about to lean to kiss her once again when...

“KINO! Hurry!”

They both looked and saw Yuri running towards them in a hurry. 

“What happened?” Kino asked.

“It’s Sabine! She’s coming this way! She came earlier than usual!”

Kino grunted and looked towards Ariadna 

“You have to go”

“N-No! I can’t leave you! L-Let me talk to her, maybe I can change her mind!”

“It won’t work, she’s crazy: she’ll go nuts if she finds out you have been coming here all this time”

“T-Then… I’ll come tomorrow with an army!”

“Ariadna, no. She’s a witch, remember? Besides she might even hurt you” Kino took her chin gently “I’ll be ok, you need to go”

Ariadna wanted to stay so bad, more now with everything he had told her, but Kino looked worried about her wellbeing that she couldn’t go against him. She really felt useless in this situation, then an idea popped into her head:

“T-Tomorrow! There’s a ball tomorrow’s night! I-If you come I’ll make my declaration in front of everybody! That way your curse will be broken!”

“I can���t leave this place… if I’m not in the lake I’ll stay as a swan”

“You need to try! Please! It’s the only way!”

“KINO!” Yuri said anxiously and Kino cursed under his breath from the pressure.

“Fine! I’ll be there. Now go!”

Ariadna looked at him relieved. She was about to leave when she got on her tiptoes and kissed Kino once again in the lips and he corresponded it. They really wished to had more time…

Finally, Ariadna left and a few moments later Sabine made her appearance.

“Kino dear~ how are you today~?” Sabine asked

“I’m actually good Sabine, thanks for asking~”

“Hm? Why would the reason be~?”

“Although they are rare, I have my good days. Believe it or not~”

“And I think that girl has to do with it, has it?”

Kino felt like a bucket of cold water had fallen into him. 

“What?”

“You think I wouldn’t find out~?”

“How you did?”

“I happened to want to give a special present today and decided to come earlier. But what was my surprise when I saw a horse tied to a tree in the forest. At first, I thought it could be lost, when I saw a girl coming out the waterfall! Then, I heard her saying your name while blushing!”

Kino closed his eyes defeated, just when everything was going so well.

“So you actually managed to get yourself a girl huh? Unbelievable…” Sabine’s tone sounded cold and started trembling from the rage “How could you!? After all I’ve done to win you over… all sacrifices I’ve made… this pretty place I made for you…WHY!?”

Kino was not a bit guilty about his words, in fact he was angry.

“Don’t make me laugh! ‘All the things you’ve made for me’? ‘Sacrifices’? You think this place is something anyone would have wanted? This is not a paradise this is a prison!”

“All I did is because I love you Kino!”

“Silence! I don’t and I made it very clearly that day. I was never interested in you and you couldn’t deal with that fact! You love me? What a joke!”

Kino was infuriated and after all Sabine has said and done to him she seriously believed it would change the way he felt for her?

“Why…Why is it that you love her and not me!?”

“You want the truth?”

“YES! WHY!? WHAT SHE HAS THAT I DON’T!?”

“Because unlike you she’s kind, brave and compassionate. She doesn’t care about my title or isn’t greedy. She made an effort to get to know me and most importantly she isn’t interested in anything I could provide to her”

Sabine was crying tears of fury, how could Kino have fallen in love with a mere peasant and could defend her as he was doing it?

“I LOVE YOU MORE THAN SHE DOES! I’VE LOVE YOU LONGER THAT SHE HAS! SHE IS A NOBODY!”

“Watch your words Sabine! Now listen to me clearly: she’ll be better than you’ll ever be and you simply disgust me”

Savine lowered her gaze and cried for some minutes until suddenly she stopped. She stood up and looked at Kino with dangerous eyes.

“Is that so? So you decided to chose her over me? Very well~ Then, let’s see if she would be able to save you~"

Behind her the early rays of the sun appeared and showered both Kino and Yuri turning them back into his swan and raven form respectively. Sabine then approached them and with a movement of her fingers roots from the ground grabbed them by their feet. 

“I’ve heard that she invited you over to a ball tonight, didn’t she~? Well, that’s marvelous! It’s been a while since I last assisted to one~!” Sabine talked to them in a mocking way “It’s a shame you can’t come with me~ too bad, but don’t worry! I tell you every single detail once I come back~!”

Sabine laughed while vanishing. Kino moved its wings angrily and Yuri squawked in fear.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Ariadna arrived to her home just in the middle of a commotion. Everybody was in a hurry with the preparations of the ball. Ariadna managed to avoid people carrying stuff here and there, she found her family gathered and planning some things when she approached them.

“Ari! Good to see you! Where were you?” her mother, Morena, asked her.

“I went out for a ride, how are the organization going?” Ari answered.

“We are deciding the color of the flowers and the music to play, good thing you arrived” Akane spoke

“Hmm… the flowers could be… red roses?” Ari suggested

“Red roses? For our birthday party? Isn’t that more suitable for any other ball?”

“Red roses? You mean the ones that mean ‘love’? It seems someone is rather romantic lately~" Daisuke, Ari’s father, teased her.

“Oh~! Nothing like that! I thought, since it’s almost winter, red could match with the winter theme we chose~" Ari answered 

“Didn’t you said you didn’t like red roses because of their meaning exactly?”

“Did I said that? Well, I changed my mind~"

The three of them looked at Ariadna surprised, she was in a very good mood lately and now she was being a little cheesy.

“I suppose you’ll suggest some romantic pieces for the music~?” Daisuke mentioned

“Oh~ that could be a good idea~! After all, winter is a rather romantic season… well at least for me~" Ari added 

“Romantic winter… that isn’t fit for a birthday ball” Akane commented in an annoyed tone.

“Akane~ I met your mother at my birthday ball, remember? Besides, a ball no matter the theme or time of the year is a great opportunity to find love~" Daisuke commented while kissing Morena on the lips.

“Oh dear~ You know how Ari gets all flustered whenever we kiss~"

Yet when they looked at her, Ari was lost in thought. When she saw her parents kiss, she couldn’t help but remember her own kiss from just a few hours ago.

“Heh~? She isn’t bothered at all~” Akane mentioned noticing her strange attitude.

“E-Eh? I-I…”

“OH! Honey, Ari is hiding something from us!” Morena said in a playful tone.

“Something? More like SOMEONE~" Daisuke added and the three of them laughed

Ariadna couldn’t help, but blush. Suddenly, the three stopped and became more surprised.

“Hold on! She is indeed, hiding some important information from us!” Akane exclaimed.

“What!? Oh! Who is it? Who is it Ari?” Morena exclaimed excited

“I-I!”

“Tell us little princess! This is such great news!” Daisuke cheered for Ari to tell them

“I-I… I can’t tell you about him… not yet at least” Ari answered. Although Kino didn’t specified he wanted to keep his identity hidden, she was afraid they’ll insist her to tell them EVERYTHING about him and that had to mean telling his UNFORTUNATE story… like she did to Naomi.

“Oh~ Now, I’m even more curious about him!”

“Why won’t you invite him to the ball? That way, he won’t feel pressured to meet their soon-to-be parents-in-law. I would have prefered a ball than a private reunion if you ask me~" Daisuke suggested

“Oh honey! That is an amazing idea!”

“O-Oh… I already invited him. I hope he’ll make it”

“Really!? Oh! How wonderful! LISTEN EVERYBODY!”  Daisuke called for everyone’s attention “Tomorrow everything needs to be even more perfect! The theme will be now be ‘romantic winter birthday’! Now I want white, red and silver everywhere! Red roses in every single flowerpot and tell the director to play sweet and delicate music! We possibly have an important guest coming to the ball and it’s fundamental everything goes according to plan! Besides~ It’s the princesses’ birthdays! Now, please everyone get back to work!”

Ariadna heard everyone clapping and talking about who this mysterious guest could be and she couldn’t help but blush.

(Kino would be very pleased) Ari thought while blushing. 

She thought it was very considerate having such a warm welcome from her family. She felt butterflies in her stomach and now she couldn’t wait for that night to come~!

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Sabine appeared in another part of the forest, although she was still angry she was thinking in a way to fix this small inconvenience.

“All this commotion made me remember something and gave me an idea nevertheless~!”

Sabine spoke again in an unknown language and from the mud a figure emerged with the appearance of Kino. 

“Today at the ball, this illusion will take his place. When that silly girl sees it, she’ll think it’s him and she’ll declare her love for the wrong man. I’m so glad I remembered there is a “but” in my curse: if the girl Kino’s is in love with declares her feelings to another person, Kino will die~” she said while working on the mud figure to come to life.

“If he chose death over me, so may it be! Now, I wonder~: would that girl be able to know who the real Kino is~?  Or it would be too late~?” Sabine laughed in an evil tone.

To be continued…

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

*Mun Ari: Happy new year everybody! I hope you had a wonderful night with all your love ones and I wish all your wishes and purposes of this year come true! 

This is story is turning out so pretty I can’t wait to show you the end of it! I hope I’ll post it in the next 2-3 days ^^'. BTW! I made a insta history with a visual guide of almost all the characters in this AU if you want to check it out! it’s here --> The black swan lake AU - character’s visual guide

Before I go I want to thank you all for the support you’ve given me so far! It means the world to me :’3. You all inspire me to keep on creating content and I’m so happy you like what I do! Thank you :’3. Stay tuned to the last part of this story!

[wellhellotragic]

Forever 1/3

Summary: How do you compete with a ghost, when the ghost always wins?

Rating: Mature

"When someone you love dies, and you're not expecting it, you don't lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces over a long time — the way the mail stops coming, and her scent fades from the pillows and even from the clothes in her closet and drawers."

—John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany

The apartment looked different. Yes, her things were sitting in boxes in her beat up yellow bug down the street, but there was something else off aside from her missing items.

The fact that nothing really looked that different.

Five months of living there, and she’d hardly made an impact. Four years of being together and it still hadn’t been enough. She’d never noticed before how little she’d belonged. Not until David had slipped up and told her about her. Not until she realized that she’d been competing with a ghost all that time.

She heard the key turning in the lock, and the overwhelming feel of dread and regret overtook her. Her stomach twisted and she had to swallow back the bile in her throat.

Click.

She waited, as he flitted about their apartment, putting away groceries in the kitchen, setting his wallet and phone on the nightstand by his side of their bed. Of his bed now. He did everything just as he normally did when he got home from work, as Emma sat on the couch waiting. Twenty minutes and he hadn’t noticed anything off, anything missing. Just another sign, another piece of proof that she was doing the right thing in leaving. She didn’t belong there anymore. She never had.

5 months earlier:

There was nothing more exhausting than moving. Emma hadn’t brought many items with her - after all, Killian already had all of the major items, and as nice and large as his apartment was, there was still no reason for two of everything.

Their apartment.

Killian had corrected her the night before when she was trying to decide if she should bring her television or not. It was newer and larger than the one Killian had, but he’d insisted that his was fine. They’d argued briefly, but Killian had pointed out that a smaller tv was less intrusive, and much less likely to distract them. There had been some eyebrow wiggling as he said it, innuendo implied. He’d even proved it to her by making love to her on the couch that was about to be theirs.

“See, Swan? It’s better this way. All of my attention is on you.”

She’d laughed and the television debate had been settled with them listing hers  for sale online. The same went for some random artwork that didn’t match the decor in his apartment. Her eclectic style was definitely a stark contrast to his earthy furnishings. The bulk of his color scheme was dark brown with a few pieces of red and black mixed in.

Yet, Emma loved it. As dark as it may have been with aged antique wooden tables and bookshelves and dark leather sofas, it was somehow homey and inviting. Moving day came and went. Killian had cleaned out some drawers for her, as well as half of his closet. A couple of her old photo frames adorned the dresser and some random end tables. Everything was perfect.

Killian came home everyday, and depending on her schedule at the Boston PD, they’d take turns trading off the role of chef. Sometimes he’d have a late meeting with an investor or a buyer, someone wanting to have their name associated with Jones Brothers’ Designs. Killian was also so animated when he spoke of his newest boat design, and Emma ate up every moment of his happiness.

His life hadn’t been easy, and even though he still had a hard time discussing his childhood, she’d pieced together enough. His father had left him and his brother when they were children. They’d bounced around in foster homes until they were both old enough to join the navy, serving proudly together. Then there had been an accident, something had gone wrong during a training exercise, and Liam had lost his life. Lost and aimless, Killian had drunk himself into a stupor most nights until something had stopped him. She wasn’t quite sure what had been the spark, but he’d been overwhelmed by the burning desire to start his own business designing boats. He’d taken the money from Liam’s death benefits and funneled them all into his business, and somehow, he’d made it a thriving success.

It had been part of what had attracted him to her. The eagerness, the desire to make something of himself. Emma had been through her fair share of losers. Neal, who had tried to frame her for the theft of some stolen watches. Walsh, who’d cheated on her. The one night stand that had stolen her phone and wallet out of her purse when she’d gone to the bathroom afterwards. When David had suggested a blind date to her, she’d rolled her eyes, but Mary Margaret had insisted.

“He lives in the building. He’s so handsome, Emma, and such a gentleman....”

“...I think you two have a lot in common. Just give him a chance.”

Finally, Emma had let her best friend break her down, and agreed to go on one date with the guy. Worst case scenario, she got a free meal out of the deal, best case, she got laid and went her own way after. Then she caught sight of him and all plans of dodging him after dinner had gone out the window. He was gorgeous. His inky black hair fell over his forehead highlighting the sapphire hue of blue in his eyes. Just the sight of him had sent a shiver up her spine, and then he’d spoken and she was gone.

Surprisingly, the dinner conversation had been the most engaging interaction she’d had with a man in years. And Mary Margaret had been right about them having things in common; their shared foster home situation had been revealed on the fourth date. On the fifth date, she’d told him about Neal and Walsh. As it turned out, he’d had a woman that had left him and broken his heart as well.

Four years later, and they’d finally moved in together. Emma hadn’t minded the slow pace at first. She’d been burned more than once and was skittish, and they’d agreed to take things as slowly as she needed. Around year three though, she’d been ready for more, much more. As much as she hinted, if took a full year before he’d finally broached the idea of moving in together.

And that’s why, when she’d been putting away his laundry on the first Saturday after she’d moved in and she found a small black box, she’d been over the moon. It had been nestled away at the back of his sock drawer. Inside had sat a solitary diamond resting on a silver band with two small words inscribed in cursive on the inside. A perfect fit. And when she’d heard his keys in the lock, she’s quickly removed the ring from her finger and shoved the ring box back under all of his socks in the drawer.

Five months. That’s how long she’d waited. Every dinner out had ended in disappointment. Every date-night in, the same. Her birthday. Christmas. They all came and went without a proposal, and Emma couldn’t take it anymore.

Waiting until Killian had left to grab them some food, Emma snuck off to David and Mary Margaret’s apartment six doors down from Killian. Both of them were home, but David was elbow deep in fixing the bathroom sink so she settled for just talking to Mary Margaret. She explained how she’d found the ring months before and that Killian still hadn’t proposed, not even close.

“It had an inscription too. Go deo.”

Mary Margaret scowled. “Well that’s not very poetic. What does it even mean?”

“Well I looked it up, and I think it means ‘Forever’ in Irish gaelic.”

“Oh my God, Emma. That’s wonderful!” The awestruck look soon faded from her face though. “But why do you think he hasn’t asked yet?”

Emma explained that she hadn’t a clue as to what he was waiting for. She’d been dropping hints left and right, but still nothing. And that’s when David appeared, shattering Emma’s world.

“Do I even want to know what you ladies are talking about?” he asked.

He kissed his girlfriend on the cheek and went to grab a beer out of the fridge.

“Oh, not much. Just that Emma found a huge engagement ring in Killian’s dresser.”

Mary Margaret had meant for it to be a coy statement, baiting David, but when he froze, Emma knew something was wrong. “I can’t believe he still has it.” It was almost a whisper, and surely not meant for Emma’s ears.

“Still has what?”

Emma tilted her head, watching his reaction. He tried to change the conversation, but his girlfriend wouldn’t allow it.

“David, what does he still have?”

He took a deep breath, cursing himself as he spilled the whole story. Killian had been engaged before, to a woman names Milah. They’d only been dating a month before he’d exclaimed to David that she was the one, producing a ring bigger than the Titanic iceberg. He’d proposed right away, unwilling to wait. He’d planned a whole night, and she’d said yes. But before they could actually go through with a wedding, she’d passed away and Killian had been devastated.

Night after night he drank himself to sleep and he’d kept the apartment like a shrine to her. Even the television that often went on the fritz because they’d bought it together years before. Everything that he’d talked Emma out of changing had been things that had once belonged to Milah. David even admitted he’d never expected Killian to become interested in Emma. He’d figured they’d have a one night stand and maybe it would help ease Killian back into the dating world.

Emma was wrecked.

Present:

She couldn’t put it off any longer. It wasn’t until she stood and started wringing her hands together that he seemed to notice something was off with her.

“Swan, what’s wrong?”

Killian approached her and tried to grab her hand, but she pulled back, knowing that if she wanted to remain strong, she couldn’t allow him to comfort her. She avoided looking at him, but based on the way he tensed up, she knew she’d hurt him.

“Killian, we-,” she paused, the words catching in her throat. “I can’t-”

“Can’t what, Emma?”

She didn’t even know how to begin. She’d tried to formulate a plan for the better part of the day, tried to find the words, but she had nothing. Nothing but her own pain.

“I found the ring.”

He didn’t say anything.

“I found it months ago, and I thought-” her voice cracked.

“You thought it was for you,” he finished.

She could only nod.

“Emma.”

“I can’t do this Killian. I can’t compete with a ghost.”

They fought. They fought for what felt like hours, Emma finally letting everything out. How nothing in the apartment was hers. How he hadn’t even noticed her things were missing. How easily she lifted out of his life. He’d told her she was being ridiculous, but she held her own, and by the end they were both emotionally spent.

The last thing she said to him was that she deserved more. She couldn’t live her life knowing she was second best. She deserved to be loved by someone the way Killian loved Milah. When she set her key on the table and turned to leave, he didn’t even try to stop her, and she waited until she was in her car to fall apart. Yet still he hadn’t come to find her.

They were over.

Emma drove all night. There was no plan for where she was going or what she was doing. She’d already given her resignation at work, said her goodbyes to the couple down the hall. There was nothing left holding her to Boston.

It was three am when her tire blew out in a desolate highway just outside of Storybrooke, Maine. She’d had to walk almost four miles into town. Cell phone service had been lacking for the past hour and she hadn’t exacting been great about keeping up with the bug’s maintenance, included replacing the spare tire.

The town was small, and everything appeared to be laid out across one street. She knew that finding a repair shop at that hour was out of the question, but she was at least hoping for an all-night diner or a motel. Her legs ached as she walked down main street, passing an old broken clock tower and a pawn shop that seemed to specialize in flea market finds.

Finally, she managed to stumble upon a place called Granny’s. It was a small bed and breakfast, but at that point, Emma was so tired that it could have been a bus stop bench and she’d have been happy. The woman behind the counter blew a bubble of chewing gum the size of her face while Emma attempted to get a room. There was very little conversation as she was handed an old ornate skeleton key.

She’d passed out as soon as her head it the pillow, not even bothering to take off her red leather jacket.

The next morning, the first thing she did was head down to the mechanic shop she’d passed on the way into town. The guy behind the counter said he’d have her car towed into town right away, and took off. As she waited, she went back to Granny’s to grab some breakfast. The diner attached was quaint in a way Emma had only seen in movies. The old woman serving up plates seemed to know everyone and their orders before they even had time to sit down.

It was such a far cry from Boston and the never ending detective work there. And when she spied the help wanted ad for the local sheriff's office, she decided that Storybrooke, Maine, seemed like as good a place to settle down as any.

She’d been there for two months when the current Sheriff, a large man with aching joints felt it was time for him to retire. With his support, Emma ran unopposed, picking up the badge he’d left behind.

Storybrooke was calm, but not completely devoid of crime. There were the odd misdemeanors, bored kids tagging buildings, items stolen from unlocked cars, but very rarely did anything of substance happen. And when it did, Emma found her one and only deputy lacking in needed skills.

So when a local woman named Katherine was reported as missing by her husband, and her car was found crashed in a ditch at the town line, Emma was on her own. Except she wasn’t. Unfortunately, the car came to rest on the border between her town and a place called Glowerhaven, one jurisdiction over.

The other town’s Sheriff had been sweet, and despite Emma’s reluctance to give him a chance, she found him charming in a way. He wasn’t hard on the eyes either, and when they’d finally found Katherine two days later wandering around the woods confused but safe, he asked her out. When she refused, he sent her flowers. When she’d refused again, he sent her a junior cadet badge, the same one they passed out to elementary school kids, Emma caved.

Emma felt guilty. Graham was great, the perfect boyfriend, yet still she often found herself comparing him to Killian. That he might want her back. It wasn’t fair, given the way she’d left things with Killian. She hadn’t even changed her cell phone number, slightly hoping that at some point Killian might call and apologize. Finally, she sat Graham down to have a heart to heart, to let him down easy. She didn’t want him to end up feeling the same way she had, but he surprised her, telling her that broken hearts take time to mend, and that he’d wait as long as she needed as long as she was just willing to try. She’d been reluctant, but he’d made a good point, and in time, she genuinely came to care for him. She might have even loved him, but the idea of love was nothing but terrifying but she realised that the only way for her to get over Killian was to fully commit herself to Graham.

And went Graham proposed on their one year anniversary, Emma’s first instinct had been to run, but as she looked into his eyes, she saw nothing but his affection for her. Taking a deep breath, Emma took the plunge and said yes. They moved in together shortly after, choosing to find a house just outside of Storybrooke, and about halfway between their offices. They cooked dinner together, watched movies, even took the occasional hike.

Planning the wedding had been much more relaxing that she’d expected it to be. Graham had told her that he just wanted her to be happy, be it a small intimate gathering or a full blown ceremony. Emma had kept in touch with Mary Margaret, even asking her to be her maid of honor, and after weeks of pestering her, Mary Margaret had finally given in to Emma’s desire for a small wedding in and old barn.

David and Mary Margaret had arrived two days before the wedding, insisting that the couple-to-be needed one last hoorah each before tying the knot. Emma and the two friends she’d managed to make went along with Mary Margaret to a small day spa in town followed by a trip to the White Rabbit, the lone bar in town. The guys group had gone into Glowerhaven for their night of debauchery.

Given Mary Margaret’s proclivity to pass out after one apple martini, the girls had called it a night early, something Emma had been grateful for. The next morning, all four women readied themselves for Emma’s wedding. Emma’s dress was white as snow, and Ruby and Mary Margaret’s dresses were as red as blood. It was Emma’s one and only concession to her best friend’s fairytale wedding idealization.

The barn had been lined with flowers, fairy lights, and ribbons. It was perfect.

And then it wasn’t.

Emma had been pacing, waiting for Graham who was already twenty minutes late. David and the other men hadn’t seen him since the night before. There had been a drunk and disorderly call and Graham had left his bachelor party early to tend to it, and that was the last anyone had seen of him. All calls to his phone had gone off to voicemail. It wasn’t like him.

Then blue lights appeared, and the face of the deputy exiting the car told her everything she needed to know.

There had been an accident. Graham had run off the road the night before, likely trying to swerve and avoid hitting a deer. The stretch of road he’d been driving down was fairly isolated, and it wasn’t until they went looking for him that they found his car. And his body.

Emma had refused to believe it, insisting that the deputy take her to see first hand. He’d pleaded with her not to look, but Emma was nothing if not stubborn. She immediately wished she’d heeded the deputies warning though. Her last memory of Graham should have been something better, of them curled up in bed together. Not of him black and blue.

David had tried to take her home, saying that she needed rest, but she couldn’t go back to their shared home. She couldn’t go there knowing that he’d never come home, so instead, Mary Margaret went and grabbed her two bags worth of clothes, and packed them in the back of David's truck. He drove back alone, and Mary Margaret drove Emma’s bug, with Emma in the passenger seat, completely silent, almost comatose.

She hadn’t even noticed when they pulled up to their building, her old building. The walk up to the third floor was a blur as her friends guided her to their apartment, still draped in her wedding gown. And when a door opened and two giggly blondes came spilling out, it hadn’t even crossed her mind which apartment they were exiting from, not until she saw him step out to kiss them both goodbye.

“Well, well,” he slurred out. “What do we have here?”

“Killian,” David tried to warn, but it fell on deaf ears.

“Running away again, Swan?” His eyes lingered on her dress. “Seems to be a pattern with you.”

He swiped his thumb across his lower lip and waved one last goodbye to the girls.

With a loud slap to the face, and tears in her eyes, Emma walked away.

It was the last straw. For the first time ever, Emma found herself hating Killian Jones.

She should have known better. Orphans like her didn’t get happy endings. They didn’t get forever.

[morgulscribe]

The Scribe of Minas Morgul

First written February 11, 2006

At last the pen - made with the feather of a raven-black swan - is set down, and the weary eyes of the scribe attempt to blink away the images of the text still burned upon the vision. The room is dark and cold, the main source of light coming from a single candle upon the table. The advent of dawn is upon the world, and already the coal-black sky begins to lighten. Soon the muted radiance of dawn will be peeking in through the ornate metalwork and translucent glass of the tall, arched window.

All my limbs are burdened with the heavy weight of utter exhaustion, and I struggle with all the stern and unyielding resolve of a soldier in battle to keep my eyes from drifting shut. Still do I see the elegant, curving script before me, as clear as day, or perhaps as clear as flames or moonlight on the darkest of nights. Perhaps if I struggled, I could proof my work through the dim realm that I see beyond my closed eyelids, deciphering that savagely beautiful calligraphy which burns itself into my vision like magic letters. Such are the ailments that afflict a scribe, the toll upon the eyes, the stinging dryness like desert winds, the sickly colors one sees after staring too long at one thing.  

But yet my hands never tire.

I look down at them, at the paleness of the skin showing through patches of black ink like cold snow splattered with coal-dusty mud. My fingers are long and slender, resembling those of the figures depicted in the art of Númenor, and thus are quite adept at the tasks of a scribe. I clench my right hand, then splay my fingers and undulate them as though I were playing the keyboard of an invisible Númenórean water organ. I clench my hand again once more and do so several times before letting it rest.

No pain assails my fingers; no weariness assails my joints.

Sometimes I wonder if I were to rot away and fade into dust, would the pen still move itself, compelled into action by the will of my lingering shade? Or, perhaps, would the hands themselves stay, preserved incorrupt though the body had long succumbed to death and decay?

I wonder these things through the long nights, when my mind wanders the realm of morbid imaginings, pondering the philosophy behind befuddled reasoning like a senseless man who deems himself wise though his wits have been dulled by poppy-draughts or mushroom brews or the euphoric fumes produced by the scorched seeds of the pleasure plant.

Sometimes I think I shall go mad.

Stone walls and time will do that to one.

There are days when my heart swells in my chest and overflows in a torrent of emotion and I rush to the window, my long fingers desperately clutching the latticed ironwork and my forehead pressed against the cool glass. My body held in the clutch of a thousand and one unresolved sorrows, I stare at the mountaintops rising out of the mists until my eyes glaze over. I dream of faraway places and exotic lands, of places that I have been, of places to which I shall never return again, and of places that I shall never see.

Then the iron scrollwork bites into my flesh with its cold bitterness, mocking my dreams with cruel realities. What a beautiful cage in which I live, one of silver and blue, of moonlight and mists, of wondrous splendor and darkness mingled with light!

To lessen the tedium of my imprisonment, I read. Books of history, books of knowledge, books of arcane lore... I have read many volumes, letting the wondrous images on the pages and those conjured in the domain of thought release me from this earthly confinement and set my spirit free.

Like an intoxicating draught, it eases the tedium and loneliness, at least for a time.

I am a scribe. Endless pages have I written in these secret manuscripts, recording the histories of great wars and mighty warriors, deeds of great renown and others of base treachery, the stories of commonfolk and kings. But most importantly - of the heart and of the mind.

If the wrong ears should hear of the things that I have written and copied with such great care and diligence, I quake at the thoughts of the torments I shall be forced to endure. I would die a million deaths only to discover that I yet lived, screaming in agonies unimaginable, for death would be withheld from me. Demons would be let loose upon my flesh, to dine upon bloody sinew, to devour my broken body and then vomit it back up whole and intact just so they could torment me again.

Though I am weary, I doubt that sleep will come easily this morning.

He is the one Who writes the laws, Whose will controls the armies; He commands the wills of men, whether He uses their love and desire or their fear and terror. He will not suffer those who go against Him, and His black hand grows ever longer. Worship He desires and more; He wishes to control the lives of His followers, of those who dwell within His domain.

Many are the folk who can neither read nor write; they tell the tales of their people by songs and stories. The voice can be hushed or lowered when enemies are around; lies can be told and the spoken word denied. An honest face can hide a lie, and thus a life can be saved.

But the written word cannot so easily be hidden.

And so it may that the words that I write upon these pages will ultimately be my downfall and my doom.

[ofgallifrey]

#s 11 and 12 for Tre and Sartia, because we're no good at not-angst XD

Combined into that one AU eventuality we talked about: 

Coming to this Universe had been a mistake. 

It had been fun for a while, a Universe where Romana had died terribly early on, and it was another Prydonian from the class of 87.23421 that ruled with an iron fist. 

It had all started to go wrong when the other Sartia had realised she had a doppelganger swanning about the place and having fun with borrowed power. 

Her other infected self (there was something ancient behind her eyes, primal chaos masquerading as simple power-lust, and the kind of coldness that could freeze an exploding star) had had her brought to heel in the middle of an opulent court. 

“There’s really no room in this Universe for another Sartia.” She’d said, and touched the Sash of Rassilon that hung around her neck.

Sartia had screamed. It felt like regeneration, but so much worse, her cells destroying and regenerating themselves over and over, never stopping, until it felt like her whole existence would burst, like her life was being undone in some higher dimension, erasing her from the Universe. 

Distantly, she remembered an unsubstantiated rumour claimed the Sash could rip a Gallifreyan apart, if linked to their biodata. Her biodata was one thing her counterpart would have no trouble getting, but it wasn’t the kind of secret she’d be willing to die for.

“Stop.” Tre had hissed, apparently in a tone that not even an Imperiatrix could argue with, and the Sash had let her collapse.  

When she’d woken, the other Sartia was gone, and Pandora wasn’t. There was only Tre, and she was different, something even older than her usual self lurking behind her eyes. 

“I quite like it here.” she’d said, bright and cheerful. “We can’t leave this place leader-less, can we? Or a Leela without a Romanadvoratrelundar, or her more people-savvy equivalent, at least.” 

Still exhausted, Sartia had managed to raise an eyebrow. “Leela.” 

“Oh, don’t be jealous. You can be my Chancellor and official consort, and Leela can be mine. That works better for both of us, really, doesn’t it, you’ve always preferred the titles to the romance.” 

Second in class, second to Leela for Tre’s affections, second-best to Pandora- for Rassilon’s sake, she was second-best to Pandora even when the choice was just between her and another Sartia. 

Perhaps that would have seemed acceptable, rather than a personal failing vast enough to swallow her every other achievement whole, had she not been brought up to idealise perfection, to accept nothing less from herself or the Universe. 

Worse, it made no sense. Of the two of them, she was the one with ambition that consumed her like a black hole, that couldn’t be pacified with wonder or friendship or whatever it was Romana had amused herself with while with the Doctor, why was she never the student Pandora wanted? And she was the one with the intellect that rivalled Romana’s own, and the shared past to go with it, why would Leela always be her first choice? 

The only thing that made the situation more bearable, was that it started go out of Tre’s control all by itself. Once Andred was out of the way, Leela had wanted to leave, quite predictably. 

Tre had it in her to let people go, she’d proved that enough in her days in the Matrix, but Pandora had taken root within her, and she’d never let go of anything or anyone, because that would be admitting that there was something in the Universe that didn’t, by rights, belong to her. 

It would all end in tragedy even without her meddling, Sartia was sure of that. She also wasn’t willing to wait- more, she didn’t want it to be a tragedy of their own making, it had to be of hers, or it wouldn’t really be revenge. 

She’d spent quite a while planning her next move, but once she’d finalised her plan, she moved quickly, and within a span, a servant had been bribed to drug Leela’s food. Leela would call it cowardice- lots of people would call it cowardice, she supposed, but it was just being practical. Better to survive the fight than to risk death for nobility or fairness’s sake. 

She used her Chancellor’s override to enter Leela’s rooms, her hands quivering with adrenaline. Leela was, quite reasonably, on guard. 

“I do not wish to fraternise with you, weasel-tongue.” 

She smiled. “Leela, you don’t need to impress me with big words.” 

“Because you will think me slow and stupid whatever I say?” 

“That, and because I’m not here as your enemy today. I thought you deserved to know the truth.” 

“You wouldn’t know honesty if it burnt out both your hearts.” Leela said, but there was a curiosity there, however wary and reluctant. 

Sartia blinked, looking perfectly innocent. “Oh, I’m sorry. I just thought you might want to know what happened to your husband.” 

Leela’s eyes narrowed and she closed the distance between them, unsheathing her knife in the meanwhile. “What do you know about Andred?”

“I know who murdered him- and it wasn’t me, before you get ahead of yourself with that knife. I have proof.” No proof existed in this Universe, of course- the Matrix, and the information it held, was too deeply in Tre’s thrall. She tossed a blank tape in the air. Leela moved to catch it, but not quite quickly enough, and it skittered to the floor, proof that her reflexes were compromised. 

In the time it took a pigrat’s heart to beat, Sartia pulled out her staser, already set to lethal, and fired. 

If Leela hadn’t had poison running in her veins, her senses already dulled, maybe she would have dodged, and Tre might have had to deal with an entirely different death. 

As it was, it hit her squarely in the chest. Leela collapsed, with barely enough time to register what had felled her. Not the death she deserved, even Sartia could admit that, but it didn’t bother her enough to regret it. 

She wasn’t quite sure how Tre was going to react, there were too many variables. This Romana was corrupted twice-over, once by a millennia in the Matrix, and now by Pandora, but had a great deal of control over the only thing Pandora had ever feared, and a more intimate knowledge of the multiverse than anyone on any other Gallifrey would be comfortable with. 

That degree of power was everything Sartia had ever wanted. It was terrifying. It was both those things and more, but she’d never wanted to be its second in command, and she certainly wasn’t going to play second fiddle to a human. Surely Tre could never have believed that she would, 

Tre thought she could have everything, that nothing in the Universe could be denied to her, not anymore. Sartia couldn’t wait to prove her wrong. Leela was hers- had been hers, and she’d been human, she’d never be a ghost in the Matrix, she’d only ever had one life to live and lose. 

Though it wasn’t the wisest of choices, Sartia waited in her rooms. She wanted to watch Tre find the body, see her hurt, wound her just as Tre had her. 

It’s not just the alien bodyguards Imperiatrixes should watch out for, she thought, and smiled. 

[smartgirlsaremean]

My Heart’s in the Highlands - Chapter 19

Fandom: OUAT

Pairing: Bellish, Swanfire, Snowing

Rating: T

Summary: With Rumplestiltskin gone, Belle can't face going back to the Enchanted Forest without him. She leaves Storybrooke forever, travels the world, and ends up in a small village in Scotland, where she meets a constable with a very familiar face.

AO3

Chapter 19: Th’envious Treachery of Man

The investigation into Neal's disappearance takes a turn, and Belle may have discovered the curse caster's purpose - but nothing is as it seems, and it appears there's more than one agenda at work.

Hamish would never complain about his land rover again. The little yellow Volkswagen was the single worst police vehicle he’d ever seen, and as it bounced over the roots and rocks in the road, he gritted his teeth and reminded himself that there were worse things to endure. Next to him was the proof of that; Emma was beside herself, her face white as a sheet and her knuckles bloodless where she gripped the steering wheel.

“I can’t believe I sent him out here alone,” she said. “We all knew how dangerous it was...the monkeys and the witch and...what if something happened to him?”

“We’ll find him, Miss Swan,” Hamish said, grimacing as they hit a particularly jarring pothole.

“Don’t call me that,” she said. “You sound too much like...just call me Emma.”

“You weren’t fond of...him...either, eh?”

Emma stopped the car abruptly and jumped out, Hamish following her. “I didn’t like him, but I didn’t dislike him. He was Neal’s dad and Henry’s other grandfather, and he was the reason my parents got together. It’s just weird, y’know? He was...him. And he and Belle were...them. And then she shows up with you and it’s just…” She shook her head. “God, where is he? How am I supposed to…”

She stopped, staring off into the trees, and then took off at a run, Hamish following after her. David knelt in a clearing, looking exhausted and bewildered, his clothes muddy and torn.

“Dad! Are you okay?” Emma reached his side and wrapped her hands around his arm, pulling him to his feet. “Where’s the witch?”

“It wasn’t her,” David said.

“Who was it?”

“Me...myself.”

“Yourself?” Emma looked stunned. “Okay, so...where...where is...are...you?”

“I defeated it. It was playing on my worst fears, things I’ve never told anyone, not even your mother. Only when I admitted my fears was I able to stab it with my sword.”

“What sword?” Hamish asked. He glanced around on the forest floor, but saw nothing but leaves.

“The hilt - when I stabbed the...whatever it was...with my sword, the hilt disappeared.” David raised troubled eyes to Emma’s. “Why would it disappear? Where would it go?”

Emma shrugged helplessly.

“Emma.”

The three of them turned at the sound of the new voice, and Emma let out a strangled cry.

“Neal!”

She dropped her father’s arm and ran to him, but a few feet from where he stood she appeared to run into a barrier; she was thrown back several yards, her arms pinwheeling as she struggled to remain on her feet. Hamish approached more slowly, wishing he had a firearm or something that would offer even the slightest protection. Something told him, however, that he had nothing to fear from the man.

Neal looked miserable and careworn, his clothes dirty and ragged and his face covered in several days’ worth of stubble. “I can’t stay long,” he said heavily. “She’ll call me back in a minute. But Emma...stop looking. Please. No harm will come to you and the others if you just back off.”

“She? Who’s she?” Emma approached him again, stepping carefully. “It’s Zelena, right? She’s the witch?”

Neal shook his head miserably. “She’s a victim just like me, Emma. Like all of us. She’s been trying to free me, but she’s powerless against…” He winced and staggered back, one hand at his head. “She’s calling me, Emma. I have to go back.”

“Neal, no!” Emma took another step forward. “If it wasn’t Zelena who did all this, who was it? Who captured you?”

“Think, Emma.” Neal looked as if he were fighting against invisible bonds, the words being dragged from him. “Who would lure us back here, only to prey on the innocent? Who would be so...so heartless? So evil?”

Emma’s face went white. “No. No, I don’t believe it.”

“Keep Henry safe, Emma,” Neal said, backing away from her. “Swear it.”

“Of course I will,” Emma said fiercely. “And I’ll find you. You know I will.”

Neal opened his mouth to respond, but black smoke billowed up around him, and he vanished.

“It can’t be Regina, it just can’t be,” Emma was saying as she paced up and down the pawnshop. “None of it makes sense.”

“Emma, I know this is difficult for you,” Mary Margaret said gently, “but you don’t know Regina the way we do. The woman I knew - she’s capable of anything.”

“But she was changing,” Emma said. “She wasn’t the evil queen anymore, she was...she was better.”

“And then she lost Henry,” Mary Margaret said. “You know how much she loved him. Losing someone you love - it can destroy the best of us.”

“But if she wanted to get back to him, why hasn’t she tried to contact him? Why hasn’t she come for him?”

“Maybe she has.”

Emma swiveled to look at Belle, who had emerged from the back room with David. “What?”

Belle held up the empty jar she’d found in the safe. “Based on what David described and on what I’ve found in some of Rumple’s books, it sounds like he was dosed with night root. It’s a magical plant that forces a person to face his worst fears.”

“He said he killed him. His fears. Whatever.”

“Yes, and then his sword hilt disappeared.” Belle fidgeted under Emma’s impatient gaze. “I don’t think it did disappear, though. I think it was taken by whoever gave him the night root.”

“But why? What would anyone want with a broken sword?”

“When we face our darkest fears, our true courage is revealed,” Belle said. “True courage, like true love, is a powerful emotion. David’s sword is now a symbol of that true courage.”

“So what would anyone want with my father’s courage?”

“I have some ideas,” Belle said. “I need to do a little more research before I can say for sure. Emma...did you and Neal have something that was important to you? A symbol of your love for each other that you would recognize instantly?”

“Dreamcatchers,” Emma said. “That was always our thing. We kept one hanging in the bug.”

Belle nodded. “Okay. I need to go to the library, I think, and do some more research.”

“Well, you shouldn’t be alone. No one should.”

Belle glanced at Hamish. “Hamish can stay with me and…”

“Yeah, the thing is…” Emma looked a little fidgety now. “Dad doesn’t want to leave Mom alone for too long,” David nodded, putting one arm around Mary Margaret’s shoulders, “and I...I could kind of use some backup. If you don’t mind,” she said to Hamish.

Hamish shrugged uneasily. “I came here to help Belle,” he said. “Isnae there someone else who…”

Emma’s shoulders sagged. “This isn’t your fight, I know,” she said, “but...you seem like a good cop and someone who’s handy to have around in a tight spot. If I can’t have my dad, I was kind of hoping…”

“If she’ll have me, I could aid the lady in her research,” Hook said.

Belle, Hamish, and Emma shared wary glances. “I don’t know, Hook,” Emma said finally. “Research doesn’t seem like your thing.”

“I’ll admit I’m not of a scholarly bent,” he said, “but I can fetch and carry, and I’m more than capable of protecting her, should the need arise.”

“You do remember that you tried to kill me?” Belle said icily. “Twice?”

“Something I’ve regretted deeply,” Hook said. “Allow me to make amends, Lady Belle.”

Belle crossed her arms and studied him, and Hamish refrained from voicing his objections. If there was one thing he’d learned about Belle, it was that she hated to have others dictate to her. If she decided to accept the pirate’s protection, he would have to abide by her decision.

“Fine,” she said at last. “But I will be watching you, Captain.”

“Most ladies do, love.”

Belle rolled her eyes.

“Okay,” Emma said. “If what Neal said was true, we need to look for - for Regina. We know she hasn’t been back to her house or office, so she must have somewhere else to hide. Hamish and I will head out to the north side of town, since that’s where most of the monkey sightings have been. We’ll see what we can find. Belle, let us know the second you think you know what’s going on.”

“Of course.”

“Henry’s going to stay with you guys,” Emma said to her parents. “Please...don’t tell him what Neal said until we’ve found Regina. If there’s even the slightest chance that it’s not true…”

“We won’t,” David said. “We’ll take good care of him for you, Emma.”

When her parents were gone, Emma turned to Hamish. “Here,” she said holding out the small handgun she’d carried on her belt.

Hamish took it. “I didnae think I was allowed tae carry a firearm in the States.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “I’m the sheriff, remember? And it’s not like the Feds are gonna come storming in.” She turned to Hook. “We’re on channel 3 on the walkies if you can’t reach our phones. Call us the second you know something.”

Hook bowed in acknowledgment, and Hamish and Emma made to leave.

“Wait!” Belle called, running after them. Hamish stopped and turned to her, his brow creased in worry. After hesitating a moment, Belle reached up to press a gentle kiss to his lips, and Hamish was almost too surprised to respond. “Be careful,” she whispered when she’d pulled away.

He nodded, barely registering the surprise on Emma’s face and the thinly disguised disgust on Hook’s. “You too, darlin’,” he said. Belle smiled and brushed a lock of hair off his forehead, then stepped back, and he turned to follow Emma out of the shop, his mind a-whirl.

“You do have a type, don’t you?” Hook asked Belle when they’d barricaded themselves in the shop. He leaned against the counter and appeared to be studying her intently.

“I suppose it depends on what you mean by ‘type’,” Belle said tartly, flipping open the pad of paper she’d once briefly used to take notes while she did inventory.

“Well, you know,” Hook gestured vaguely. “First the crocodile, now this fellow.”

“My love life is really none of your business.” Belle opened an ancient tome on the glass counter and began scanning the contents. Hook swept one hand before him as if in apology and began to pace the length of the shop.

One spell stood out to her - it called for four powerful ingredients, and if her hunch was right...Belle reached for her pen to take down notes, but it was no longer where she’d put it. With a sigh she looked all around her, but the pen was nowhere to be seen.

“Anything wrong, milady?” Hook asked from the other end of the shop, where he was inspecting two grotesque wooden puppets.

“I need a pen,” she said, “and it appears I’ve misplaced mine.”

Hook approached her again and looked about her, then suddenly stooped to the floor. “Is this what you’re looking for, love?” he asked, holding up the black fountain pen Rumple had always preferred. Belle was sure it hadn’t been there a moment ago, but she supposed she’d been too flustered to notice it.

“Thank you,” she said, taking it from him.

True courage...true love...true intelligence...true innocence...they were ingredients nearly impossible to obtain all at once, but if it could be done...Belle’s pen flew over the page as she recorded her thoughts and suppositions and questions. Why would Regina need this spell? What could she hope to accomplish? How did she plan to avoid the myriad problems such a spell would inevitably cause?

She now had Charming’s courage, and Belle supposed Neal was being kept for a purpose other than the usefulness of his blood - though why he would be chosen as the supplier of true love when Emma would have been a clearer choice...Belle’s pen slowed and she considered that, wondering why Emma had been spared and Neal had been taken. Could Regina have some other purpose for Emma?

And from what source did she plan to harvest true innocence? Innocence in its purest form could only be found…

Belle caught her breath. Of course. Snow White’s baby. That was why the curse had been enacted when it had, instead of a year ago or even two or three months ago. It was perfectly timed to coincide with the new prince or princess’s birth.

Courage, love, and innocence were all accounted for then. Only intelligence remained, and as much as Belle loved Neal, and as canny and clever as he was, she didn’t think anyone would choose him for such a purpose. Who in the Enchanted Forest would have intelligence enough to be mined for such a powerful spell?

The space between Belle’s eyes began to pound as she pondered this question, considered the other townspeople. For whatever reason, Emma did not seem to be a target, and neither of the royals were known for their intellect. There was the psychologist - the cricket - what was his name? She could not remember for the life of her. And the woodcarver’s son - had anyone seen him? He was clever wasn’t he? What was his name again? She couldn't recall what it had been in either this world or the last.

Dimly Belle felt a dull pain in her fingers and she looked down to where she still gripped the fountain pen, which was glowing green in her hand. It moved rapidly across the paper, though she had long since stopped consciously writing, and she drew in a deep breath as panic set in. Her thoughts spilled across the page in deep emerald ink, and her head grew fuzzy and her vision blurred.

“Feeling alright, milady?” Hook asked.

Belle shook her head, her breathing labored.

“Ah. Yes, I suppose it must be draining, having one’s thoughts and knowledge siphoned from one’s head. Don’t you fret, love. These…” and he ripped the page from the pad and the pen from her hand, “are all we need of you. You have yourself a nice long rest, and when you wake, you’ll be in a new world. Who knows? You may even have your precious crocodile back.”

Belle fumbled for her phone in her pocket, but her vision was going dark, and her knees buckled.

“Nighty-night,” Hook said with a cruel smile.

Belle watched helplessly as he strode out the door, and then everything went black.

[distant-rose-archive-blog]

By The Hook

Notes: Three fic ideas in the brain mill and what is the first piece of fanfiction that I write in two years - a one-shot. Anyway, I would like to thank @welllpthisishappening for encouraging me to write this and dealing with my nuisance self for the past two days as I banged this out and constantly asked for her opinion. All mistakes are mine because I am trash. Depending on how this one goes, might make a “Little Pirates” drabble series starring Harrison, Westley (Wes) and Elizabeth (Beth) Jones. You can read on AO3 here: [LINK]

Summary: Since the birth of his children, Killian Jones has kept his hook out of sight in order to keep from scaring his children. His fourteen-month daughter doesn’t agree with this policy.

Rating: T

Word Count: 3,000+

“One of these days, we’re going to finally call it a quits and move to the other side of the country where no one can find us,” Emma says, exhaustion filling every word as they limp up the front steps of their home. She staggers slightly as her foot catches on the wood, swaying into Killian.

Killian groans at the unexpected contact but lifts an arm sluggishly around Emma’s shoulders to help his wife find balance. He’s feeling every single one of his years in this moment and nearly every part of him hurts. Bruises are starting to form on his shoulders and torso where the beastie of the week slammed into him. He feels blood trickling down his brow where the griffin’s talons grazed him. He is hoping against hope that he isn’t going to need stitches…again.

Emma gently pats him on the arm in silent thanks and leans slightly forward to open their front door. Both of them groan as they move to push off their shoes. Killian toes his boots into a fine line while Emma is more careless, one of her shoes flying into the air and hitting the wall in the dull thud. Killian is too tired to even care enough to complain. He just wants to lay in his bed with his wife and sleep for week.

Killian hisses when Emma unexpectedly lays a hand back on his bicep. Pain travels hotly up his arm. Emma gives him an apologetic look before stepping away, pivoting towards the kitchen.

“How does rum, an ice pack and Advil sound, sailor?” She asks, giving him a sympathetic look over her shoulder. Killian offers her a grateful smile that comes off as more as a grimace than anything else.

“Sounds like heaven, love,” he replies while limping his way towards the living area couch calling his name. A part of him knows that if he sits down, he’s going to have trouble getting up again but he no longer cares. He just wants to rest his bones and quell the screaming of his abused muscles.

However, he soon discovers his trek to the couch is more perilous than he thought as his foot makes contact with a toy truck left behind by one of his sons. The wretched piece of plastic blares to the life, sirens, lights and all as Killian loses his footing and falls ass first on the floor, pain shooting up his spine. Killian lets out a loud groan as he lays the floor, too exhausted to get up. Instead he kicks the offending toy in retaliation, watching it with only moderate interest as it whizzes across the floor and crashes into the wall, red lights still flashing and siren continuing to wail. Killian has never hated David more for gifting his eldest son with the obnoxious thing.

“Killian, you alright?”

Though Killian can’t see her from his vantage point on the floor, he can hear the concern in her tone and can almost perfectly visualize the worried furrow in her brow. He licks his lips for a moment before answering, measuring his words.

“Swan, remember how you were saying that we should leave and relocate across the country?” He asks, letting his entire body sink against the wood. Now that he’s laid out, he feels no inclination to get up. That would require work.

Emma is silent, obviously waiting for him to continue. Again, he visualizes her in his mind’s eye; this time she’s leaning across the door, watching him warily. Regardless of how many times he’s insisted that he’s a survivor, she never stops worrying about him. He can’t necessarily blame her considering their track record.

“Well,” he starts, drawing out the ‘l’. “Let’s leave the little pirates behind. The three of them are just as likely to kill us as anything else in this town.”

“Har, har,” Emma replies and he can hear her feet shuffling away from the doorway and back into the kitchen. “If you can still make terrible lines like that, then you’re fine. Walk it off, Captain.”

Killian merely chuckles in response, lifting his hand to massage the ache out of his left shoulder. He sighs, wincing slightly as the muscles spasm under his fingers. Tonight had been a rough one as he and Emma had fought to get wild griffins under control and away from the residential areas. When they had received reports about pets going missing, they never imagined that three horse-sized creatures would be the ones causing havoc, but that the same time they should have expected it. Storybrooke never did anything small, regardless of the issue. Killian knows it’s nigh impossible, but he just wants an entire week of mundane living. He wants to finish the mountain of paper on their desks back at the station, have ridiculous amounts of sleepy sex in a bed, eat grilled cheese at Granny’s, FaceTime with Henry, teach Harrison and Wes how to properly tie sailor’s knots and figure out how to make his baby girl go to bed on time.

“Dada?”

The phrase “speak of the Devil, she shall appear” casually flutters through Killian’s mind as he cranes up to look at the tiny toddler, ignoring his protesting ligaments. His only daughter is perched on the fourth stair, peering down at him with curious but almost impossibly large green eyes. She adds flourish to her query by popping her thumb in her mouth and sucking on it, her gaze never leaving his. Killian doesn’t respond immediately, ignoring her temporarily to glance at the old beat up clock sitting on the mantle. It’s nearly midnight and Henry should have put her to bed hours ago.

He looks back his daughter, this time taking in her full appearance. She’s dressed in her bed clothes, atrociously pink items gifted by Snow complete with a bright bow holding back her wild mane of chocolate curls. He can tell just by looking at her that she hasn’t slept a wink since she was supposed to be put down at eight. His daughter loves to roll in her sleep, which often leads to the tidy bows being tarnished and torn from their adorning place upon her crown. The ribbon is far too neat to have been mussed in sleep.

“Miss Elizabeth Alice, you’re supposed to be in bed,” Killian admonishes her softly, careful to keep his tone light but firm. His daughter is at that age where she can throw a tantrum at the drop of a hat and the only thing worse than abused body and a mischievous fourteen-month old toddler is an abused body, an angry toddler plus cranky and awake five and three year olds. Not that his daughter has ever been a particularly even-tempered child. No, his little girl is a pint-sized tempest; colicky from the start. Neither of his boys, both affable and docile as babes, had prepared them for Hurricane Elizabeth.

The child in question doesn’t throw a tantrum upon being addressed however. She responds to the light reprimand with toddler giggles and a wide smile, showing off the small row of baby teeth that had been causing them hell for the past five months.

“Dada,” she repeats again, this time crawling down the stairs and starting to toddle towards him.

Killian tenses, readying his sore body to leap into action if she stumbles and falls, but for the most part watches her almost expertly maneuver the stairwell. He comes to the firm conclusion that Emma and he are going to need to baby-proof the house more than they already have. He has no illusions that Henry made a valiant effort to put her to bed in her crib and she had waited for the perfect moment to climb out of it, a feat both Harrison and Wes hadn’t accomplished until eighteen-months of age. (Emma will never stop taunting him that girls develop faster than boys.) The damn kids keep figuring out how to bypass all the child locks and safety measures they’ve been painstakingly trying to upkeep to no avail. His little pirates are just too clever and stubborn to be contained; a fact that both fills him with pride and frustration. (And regardless of what David says, his kids are little pirates. Harrison hoards and hides his toys like a pro, Wes is enamored with anything shiny and has a pair of sticky hands that drive Emma nuts, and then there’s his little girl who captains them all. Killian might be the Captain of the Jolly Roger, but he’s fully aware that he’s been demoted to First Mate as Captain Black Beth Jones takes control of the household.)

“Dada,” she calls. His title, the one he now holds with the most pride in, is a litany on her little lips. A larger than life smile etches itself across his face as he watches her walk towards him on cute chubby toddler legs. He really should put her to bed, she’s supposed to have at least eleven hours of uninterrupted sleep at her age, but he’s memorized by this little creature who stole his entire heart without his permission before she even drew her first breath. A tremendous feat he has no doubt she will top with countless others as she grows into the large personality he can already see arising her.

“Let’s have a cuddle, Little Beth,” he smiles at her. He outstretches his arms towards her; limbs trembling with effort. He’s beyond tired and really should get off the floor, but this is his little girl. He could be on the verge of death (again) and he would still ask to hold her.

It takes him a moment in his exhaustion to realize he’s still wearing his hook and he freezes almost immediately upon the realization.  Killian doesn’t wear his hook around his children, normally donning on a prosthetic to keep from frightening them. He made the mistake of wearing the hook around Harrison when he was a babe and the mere memory of his son’s terrified wailing is still enough to freeze the blood in his veins. He still has nightmares of his children running away from him, horrified of the hook attached to their father’s left arm.

Killian keeps the smile on his face, not wanting to alert his daughter to his internal panic, but lowers his left arm and hides the hook from view by sliding it behind his body. The hook and harness feel far from comfortable against his back but he can deal with the pain as long as Beth isn’t afraid of him. It’s a fairly small price to pay.

Beth, fortunately for Killian, seems to have not noticed his hook and clambers onto her father with the delicate and thoughtful discretion of any toddler. Though he’s five years into being used as a human jungle gym, Killian cannot but flinch as she jostles his injured ribs and plants her hands hard on his bruised collarbones. It’s rather painful, but nothing compared to the numerous times his boys have crushed his balls while carelessly climbing onto his lap. (With all the times that has happened, he’s vaguely surprised they managed to even conceived Beth.) Killian chuckles at the thought and curls an arm around his daughter’s tiny form, pulling her forward a bit so he can bestow a kiss on her brow.

“Dada,” she repeats, tugging on his clothes in an almost impatient manner.

“Aye, hello to you too,” Killian replies, giving her another kiss on the nose. Beth scrunches her face up adorably, her little nose, that looks so much like Emma’s, wrinkles as if offended by his whiskered kiss.

“Dada!”

This time her tone is sharp, almost Emma-like whenever she’s getting annoyed with him. Her little fingers curl into the sleeve of his left arm and tug more insistently. It’s then that Killian’s weary brain figures out that she wants something.

“What do you want, Little Beth?” He asks, his fingers absent-mindedly tracing patterns into her back. She’s a tiny canvas for his digits, but drawing little circles is soothing for him; it reaffirms that this wonderful part of his life is real.

She tugs again on his sleeve and looks at him with a determined expression that almost startles him because it’s the fiercest his toddler has ever looked.

“Dada! Up!” She demands with all the surety that only a small child can deliver and Killian finally realizes that she wants his left arm. She’s seen the hook. Beth wants to see the hook.

“No, little love,” he says gently, shaking his head in emphasis. Harrison’s cries echo in his mind once more. He isn’t sure if he could survive hearing his little girl emitting the same petrified screams and knowing he is the cause of it.

He watches Beth process the implication behind his words in the shifting of her facial expressions. It’s obvious that she understands what he’s saying to her and isn’t happy about it. ‘No’ is one of her favorite words to say, but she’s never happy to hear it from anyone else. Her face scrunches again and this time it’s not adorable. Hurricane Elizabeth is about to make an appearance.

“Alright, alright,” Killian sighs heavily. His exhaustion returns in tenfold as he slowly moves his arm out from underneath him and placing it at his side. Though his body is grateful for the reemergence of his arm, his mind is in panic mode and he can feel the adrenaline starting to pump back into his system, his heartbeat echoing in his ears as he mentally chants “please don’t scream, please don’t scream.”

Beth’s oncoming tantrum dissipates at the sight of movement and she scrambles across his body to look his arm, more importantly the hook. The expression on her face transforms back into the curious gaze that he saw while she had been sitting on the landing of the stairs. Killian’s breath stills as he watches her tiny fingers reach forward to touch the cool steel.

Almost without his conscious knowledge, Killian’s arm lifts to bring the hook closer to her inquiring hand and he wishes more than anything that he had some feeling in his hook as her dainty little digits brush against the metal for the first time. Beth’s mouth breaks into a large grin and the squeal of a pleased child emits from her throat. She’s fearless in her exploration to the point where her hand forms a tiny fist around the curve of his hook. Beth gives a small but hardy tug for a child her size and Killian cannot help the disbelieving laugh that escapes his chest.

“Careful there, Little Beth, don’t go breaking Dada’s hook,” Killian chuckles almost wetly. There’s no words to describe the emotions welling up inside of him at the sight of his fearless girl playing with the most dangerous element of his person like it’s a new toy.

Beth isn’t happy when Killian decides to maneuver himself into a sitting position so he can cradle her in his lap. Part of him isn’t happy either, bumps and bruises throbbing. However, he feels he can better facilitate Beth’s interactions with his hook in a sitting position. Her fingers have nearly grazed the sharp tip more often than he’s comfortable with, and while he’s more than happy that she’s so comfortable with his hook, he fears that cutting herself on it will ruin the wonder of this moment.

“Make sure she doesn’t put that in her mouth,” Emma comments from the doorway, humor lacing each word. “You know how she likes to put everything in there and your hook literally was inside a griffin tonight. I’m pretty sure Whale will throw a fit if we end up back in the emergency room again.”

Killian looks up from Beth to look at his wife, ripped away from the unnamable moment he’s having with his daughter. Emma is leaning back across the doorway that leads to their kitchen, watching them with a small smile and fingers absently tracing the handle of a cutesy ceramic mug in her hands. He can tell by her posture that she’s been watching them for awhile, but he’s been too wrapped up with their daughter to notice.

“I think she likes playing with my hook as much as you do, Swan,” Killian teases his wife, placing another kiss on Beth’s crown while taking his eyes off Emma. His signature smirk forms against Beth’s dark curls.

“Knock it off, tiger, we have company,” Emma responds with a roll of her eyes, gesturing towards the child in his arms with her mug.

“It’s not like she understands what I’m saying.”

Emma ignores the comment in favor of padding forward to crouch next to him. She places her slender hand on top of his larger one on Beth’s back, her thumb caressing his.

“You like playing with Dada’s hook, baby?” Emma’s voice rises a few octaves as she addresses the toddler. The corners of her eyes are crinkling as a radiant smile graces her lips. It sometimes amazes him how she can go from the battle-hardened Savior to Emma Swan-Jones, doting mother of four.

“Hook, Mama, ‘ook!” Beth replies with a delightful squeal, waving his hook around like it’s flag. Killian’s face hurts from smiling so hard at her antics. He doesn’t think his heart can handle the amount of love he has at this moment for his daughter.

Emma isn’t watching their daughter however. She’s watching the expression on his face and she’s laughing. She leans forward to place a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth.

“We are so screwed,” she says as she pulls away, laughing still echoing in her voice.

“Why do you say that, love?”

“Because your face right now. You’re so gone for her and there’s no way you’re ever going to tell her no. She’s got you by the hook…literally,” she replies, before gracing their daughter a quick kiss as well. “You got Dada wrapped around your little finger, Miss Elizabeth.”

“Aye, she does,” Killian replies, not even bothered by it. After all, it’s the truth. There’s nothing that Killian Jones wouldn’t do for his daughter.

[gretascully]

A Silly X-Files/Twilight Fic

So my friend jokingly started writing a twilight fan fic today and it inspired me to to write this piece of ridiculous.  Please know that this is 100% a joke and is not meant to be taken seriously at all! I thought it was funny and so maybe someone else will as well.  It is what happens when Mulder & Scully are called to Forks Washington by Bella’s dad...

After a five-hour flight and a four hour long drive we had finally arrived to the small and miserable town of Forks, Washington.  We stopped at the police station only to find out that the policeman who had called us in had already gone home for the day.  I was hopeful that at least this meant we could call it a night and go to the hotel but of course Mulder had other plans.  He got the policeman’s home address and next thing I knew we were driving to his house.

I still couldn’t believe that Mulder had dragged me across the country to some nowhere town, because a crazy policeman had a hunch that there were vampires and werewolves hiding amongst its citizens.  That’s right, no dead bodies, no attacks, just one crazy dude with a fucking hunch.

Yet here I was willingly standing next to Mulder as he knocks on the door to Sheriff Swan’s house.  It isn’t the sheriff who answers the door but his teenage daughter Bella, who looks just as miserable as I am.  She asks in a vaguely annoyed voice who we are and we flash our IDs.  She then asks what we are doing here and Mulder nonchalantly responds. 

“Your father contacted us about the possibility of vampires and werewolves living in your town.”.  

At this response, Bella’s face turns red and she quickly shuts the door. Mulder and I look at each other puzzled and then from the other side of the door we hear Bella yelling at what we assume to be her father,

“Dad! What the fuck! You called the FBI! I told you, my boyfriend Edward and his family are nice vampires! They don’t suck human blood! And Jacob and his wolf pack are cool too! You are the worst!”

Then the sound of footsteps running up the stairs.  Once again, the door opens but this time it is the sheriff standing on the other side.

“I am so sorry about that. My daughter is just going through a classic teenage rebellion faze.  Please come in!”

I reluctantly walk into the house with Mulder and sit on the couch.  The sheriff serves us tea and tells us all about his crazy theories, Mulder is loving it.  Upstairs I can hear Bella blasting some angsty rock music and I wish I could join her. 

After what feels like hours the sheriff finishes up telling us all about the family of hundred-year-old sparkly vampire family who have seduced his daughter and the pack of hot young werewolf dudes.  Mulder and I finally leave and head for the hotel.  The whole ride there Mulder continues talking about his excitement for the case and I try to ignore him.  

 Once we get to the hotel Mulder asks me if I want to look over some files with him in his room but I reject his offer and head straight to bed.  I lay in the crappy motel bed listening to the familiar sound of Mulder watching porn next door and eventually drift off to sleep.

 I am suddenly awoken a few hours later by a loud knock coming from the door next to mine, Mulder’s room.  It is the middle of the night and so I know that something must be wrong.  I quickly grab my gun and head out of my room.  As I approach the door I see Mulder talking to a tall stranger.  He does not seem in any immediate danger so I hide my gun and approach them.

 Mulder sees me coming and flashes a bright smile.  I stand next to him and take in the stranger.  He is tall, well built, handsome, and very pale.  Mulder politely introduces me to the stranger,

 “Scully this is Edward, he is Bella’s boyfriend and a vampire.  And Edward, this is Scully she is my…uhh…my partner.”

 I nod toward Edwards and he nods back but he does not have a kind look on his face,

 “I was just telling your partner that there is nothing for you to investigate here.  My family is not dangerous.  We only drink animal blood and would never kill anyone.”

 “Okay”, is all I manage to say in response.  I really can’t believe that this man standing in front of us is actually a vampire.  Mulder seems to need more proof as well and so he asks Edward if we can meet his family and if they can show us their vampire powers, and in exchange we will not investigate them any further and will leave Washington.  Edward hesitates but eventually he gives in and much to my dismay we are soon in his car and on the way to meet the rest of his “vampire family”.

 The rest of Edward’s family was less brooding, surprisingly friendly and just as beautiful and pale.  We sat in their fancy mansion for a while and learn about their lives for the last hundred years as vampires.  I had to admit that it was quite the entertaining story and for the first time I found myself not feeling completely miserable.  But even though they had convincing stories it was still not enough to fully convince either Mulder or myself and so we soon headed outside to play “baseball” which they assured us would leave us with no doubts about their vampiric nature.

 This was Mulder’s heaven and my personal hell, baseball with vampires. They ran around the bases so fast that you could barely see them and hit the ball so hard it would get lost in the woods.  I quickly gave up and stood off to the side to watch but Mulder enjoyed playing, even though he was getting slaughtered by all the other players.  I much more enjoyed watching in awe as these seemingly super humans did things that definitely defied science.  

 I was so focused on the game that I didn’t notice that I was no longer the only person watching the game.  A young and beautiful man wearing no shirt had emerged from the woods and was standing a few feet behind me also watching the game.  Eventually I turned around and was shocked to see him,

 “Impressive isn’t it.”

 It took me a moment to recover from the shock before I was able to respond,

 “Yeah it is..ummm..who are you?”

 The young guy approached me and held out his hand.

 “I’m Jacob Black. I’m part of the local pack.”

 “Local Pack?”

 Instead of responding to my question, Jacob backed up a few steps from me and suddenly I was no longer looking at a man but a wolf!

 I reached into my back pocket for my gun but before I could pull it out the wolf was gone and I was once again looking at Jacob, the man.  

 “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

 Once I got my breath back I was able to assure him that it was okay, but mildly terrifying.  

 “So you’re a werewolf?”

 “Yeah.”

 “And are you friends with the vampires, I mean, the Cullens?”

 “Not really, but I am friends with Bella, Edward’s girlfriend.”

 Jacob then began to open up to me all about his tense relationship with the Cullens and his relationship with Bella.  I was intrigued and so I continued asking him questions and soon I was also learning about how he was in love with Bella but had waited too long to tell her and now she was with Edward.  It made me sad seeing how clearly still heartbroken Jacob was over his love for Bella.  I imagined how I would feel if I waited too long to tell Mulder I loved him and he ran off with someone else.  But I quickly had to banish this thought from my mind because it made me too overwhelmed with sadness.  

 Once Jacob finished talking he transformed again into a wolf and escaped back into the woods.  My focus shifted back to the baseball field to see that the game was now over and Mulder’s team had unsurprisingly lost.  It was late, I was tired, and I was ready to return to the hotel to get some sleep before we would no doubt leave Forks the next day and return to DC. Maybe this was indeed an X-File but there was nothing more for us to investigate.

 Thankfully Mulder was ready to go soon as well and so we let Edward drive us back to our motel, thanked him for the night and both walked towards are separate rooms.  But all the drive back I couldn’t stop thinking about what Jacob had told me, about how he had waited too long to tell Bella he loved her and how I didn’t want to make the same mistake with Mulder.  

 “Mulder!” I called out to him as he was inserting his keycard into the door and walked over to him.

 “Yeah, Scully.” He stopped what he was doing and turned to look at me with his gorgeous hazel eyes.

 “Since there is technically no case here that means we’re not on the clock anymore.”

 “I guess so.”  Mulder clearly did not know where I was going with this so I continued.

 “So that means if we were to consort in the same hotel room, we wouldn’t be breaking FBI rules.”

 I could see a drastic shift in Mulder’s whole face, from exhaustion to excitement and, maybe I was just wishfully thinking, but possibly even desire.

 Instead of responding Mulder opened the door to his room and motioned for me to follow him in there.  Once inside he asked me if I wanted to watch TV or something but I shook my head and said,

 “Mulder I don’t want to wait too long and lose my chance with you, like Jacob did with Bella.”

Mulder was still confused, “What does that mean Scully?”

 I took a deep breath, “It means I want you to kiss me Mulder.”

 And so he did just that.  

[jarienn972]

The Recreant - Part Five

This latest installment marks the halfway point in this story as the suspect will be identified - in case anyone missed the hint at the end of Part Four.  If my schedule permits, I’m going to attempt to post the remaining chapters before the Spring premiere. Thanks to everyone who’s been following along!

Complete Story on AO3 and FF.net

From the beginning on Tumblr:  One  Two  Three  Four

10:09am

The recent developments weighed heavy on her mind as she made her way back upstairs. She was happy to have a suspect, yet at the same time, the mere thought of just who that suspect was and the amount of betrayal that this involved made her furious. The witness had only placed him in the vicinity. He hadn't seen the actual attack. Only Killian could possibly put him at the scene, but Emma wasn't sure if she should push him for details so soon. The Sheriff side of her said they had a crime to solve, but the wife in her said to wait until he was stronger. They were about to bring in someone he trusted – someone he counted as a friend – for questioning. The thought of it stung and continued to beg the question – why?

She stood pensively in the corridor for a moment and before she allowed herself to walk through the doorway into the room, she made the decision that she wouldn't say anything to him about their suspect until they either had a confession or a lot more evidence. Unless Killian himself named his attacker, that is - although she honestly doubted he'd say anything if their suspicions were correct. He probably wouldn't choose to be particularly forthcoming about being assaulted and betrayed by someone who'd been a friend and confidant for so long. No matter what happened though, she told herself she wouldn't bring up the suspect's name unless he initiated it.

She was just thankful that they were alone as she stepped into the room and lowered herself back into the chair she'd spent the night in. It had been such a hectic morning that she was enjoying this moment of relative peace. His eyes were still closed and his breathing was slow, but steady so she figured he was still asleep. The regular blips on the monitor behind him showed his heart rate hovering around 70 beats per minute and while she didn't know if that was good or bad, after the night they'd been through, she was happy for consistent. She also noticed a few differences from earlier. The bandages that were wrapped about his head had been changed as they were now smoother and no longer tinged with bloodstains. The one covering the gash on his cheek had been replaced as well, although that wound still seemed to be seeping. It even appeared that the sheets and blanket were new as she could have sworn that the blanket had been tan before and this one seemed to be more of a cream or ivory color. Of course, her weary eyes could be deceiving her as she hadn't really been paying that much attention to the color of his bedcovers.

"Wondered when you'd be back," Killian whispered, slowly opening his eyes as he tried his best to turn toward her with a wince and a whimper. She moved swiftly to stop him, placing her open palm against his jawline to let him know she was close before he did any further damage to himself.

"Hold still," she warned as she placed her right hand atop his chest as she realized his gaze still lacked focus. "I'm right here and you shouldn't be trying to move around just yet."

"Have to agree with you, Love," he replied with a tepid and visibly exhausted smile. "Hurts to move around at all, but I guess it's a good thing that I have a hard head."

"Yeah, well, that hard head has a few cracks in it. Somebody really did a number on you."

"Aye," he sighed, taking a deep breath and clenching his jaw as he tried to fight through the obvious pain. "Been a long time since someone got the jump on me like that…" Emma tried hard not to think of just how many fights and battles he'd likely been in during his tenure as one of the most dreaded pirates on the high seas. "How long…?"

"A little over 24 hours," she responded, recognizing that he wanted to know how long it had been since the attack. "What do you remember?" She asked the question casually, not wanting to press him too hard, but hoping he still might be able to fill in some of the blanks. He squeezed his eyes closed for a moment as if trying to jog the hazy memories.

"Not much really. I was headed to my ship…Had to take an alternate route because of repairs to the road. Ended up in that bloody alley…" He paused to catch his breath, the exertion already tolling him, but he forced himself to continue. "There was a noise and before I could react, something struck me, then again. I don't recall how many times… Tried to fight back, but I was at a disadvantage…Lost my hook with one of the blows that I was certain had fractured my arm…" He held up his stump with a confused expression when there was no rush of pain.

"My dad has your hook back at the station. He found it at the scene and yes – you had a lot more injuries, but I healed the ones I could…" She took a deep breath herself before asking her next question. "Did you get a look at the person who attacked you?"

"'Fraid not, Love," he sighed, disappointed that he couldn't provide that vital information to help capture his own assailant. "All I saw was someone running from me, but I'm fairly certain he rummaged through my pockets in search of something first. I wasn't exactly completely coherent at the time, so it's possible that I may have hallucinated it."

"I doubt that," she assured him. "Pretty sure whoever did this was looking for something, but that's enough for you for right now. You need to rest and let that hard head of yours heal."

"So did my head prove to be too much of a challenge for you?" he asked with a smirk, although immediately regretting that facial expression.

"No, dear," she grinned. "Your head was off limits to magic. Whale pointed out how risky it could be and I agreed with him. But I might be able to help with one nagging little thing… Do you trust me?"

"Of course," he stated, wondering what she was doing when he sensed her leaning over him and then felt her tugging off the bandages covering his left cheek to reveal the jagged, ugly wound beneath. The edges were still bright red and raw, held together solely by the sutures, but the torn skin wasn't the only visibly painful blemish. The deep bluish purple, almost black bruises that extended from just above his jawline to his left temple were even more gruesome now that she was seeing them in their entirety. "May I ask what the devil you're doing?"

"I may not be allowed to repair the damage to your skull or heal your concussion, but I think I can get rid of this nasty looking gash…" With just her index finger extended, she allowed her healing magic to trace the length of the laceration from where it began just to the left of his nose to the spot just above his ear, grinning happily as she watched the flesh mend itself as she went along, his features and coloring gradually returning to normal. "Now, there's the devilishly handsome pirate I married."

"I'll have to take your word for that, Swan," he smiled, elated he was now able to do so with far less discomfort. "Looking forward to laying my eyes on my beautiful wife again soon. 'Tis a strange sensation to wake to nothing but shadows…"

She could tell from his voice that he was both physically and emotionally spent so this time when he closed his eyes, it didn't come as a surprise that he'd drifted back to sleep, letting out a long exhale as his body relaxed. She'd probably made him overdo it a bit, forcing his weakened body to retreat to the relative safety of unconsciousness. She felt a slight pang of guilt for pushing him so far, but at least it had paid off. Killian hadn't seen his assailant, but when he mentioned that he thought his attacker had gone through his pockets, she had all the proof she needed to confirm that the person who'd beat him so savagely had also been the same person who'd broken into their house. Had to be…

And yet again, she was brought full circle to that damned pocket watch and its mysterious contents. She really needed Killian to see it, hoping he could provide his unique insight. He'd traveled to so many different lands and realms that the miserable coin just might be familiar to him, but everything was on hold until his sight returned and if that didn't happen soon, she'd still be sitting right here at square one. She was almost afraid to take it to anyone else in an attempt to identify it, convinced that in this case, the fewer people who knew about the coin, the better.

So once again, she settled herself back down into that awful armchair – not really having any other option if she wanted to stay with her husband and at some point, she must have dozed off herself because the next thing she knew, she was being awakened by the vibration of her cell phone. If the clock on the wall was to be believed, it was now nearly 11:30. She took a quick glance to her left, confirming that Killian was still asleep while she fumbled to locate her phone, having forgotten which pocket she'd put it in. Ugh, she thought – it's too early in this pregnancy to deal with this! At least it was only her father calling. He wouldn't take offense if she didn't answer immediately. She also didn't bother to walk over to the lounge before answering the call this time. She was certain it wouldn't disturb Killian and she really didn't care if it bothered the nurse on duty.

"Hello again, Dad," she answered, hoping she'd caught the call before it rang into voicemail.

"I almost expected I was going to be leaving you a message," David laughed.

"Almost did," she admitted. "Did you track down our suspect?"

"I did. He's here with me at the station awaiting your arrival."

"I'll be there in 10," she stated as she hung up the call, shifting instantly back to sheriff mode as she gave her husband a tender kiss on his newly healed cheek. "Hopefully I'll have answers for both of us when I get back," she told him, not sure if he could even hear her, but feeling better just saying it aloud.

Now it was time for an interrogation.

11:45am

Emma wasted no time getting to the station and as she ambled through the front door, she spotted her best (and only) suspect sitting nervously in a chair across the desk from her father, tugging anxiously at his knit cap. She made herself push back the anger welling inside her before opening her mouth, remembering that she had to handle this just as questioning – not accusing. Not yet at least…

"Mr. Smee," she began, her voice quiet and steady as she pulled up a chair next to David while putting on the best fake smile she could muster. "Thank you for coming in and agreeing to talk to us this morning." Before sitting down, she tugged off her jacket, noticing a substantial temperature difference between the chilly hospital room and the almost tropical mugginess here in the squad room.

"Anything for the Storybrooke Sheriff's Department," Smee replied, obviously a tad on the skittish side, but then he always seemed like this so perhaps it was just nature, not nerves.

"We just have a couple of questions for you," she stated as she hung her jacket over the back of the chair and sat down, making Smee even more uncomfortable as she held eye contact with him when she asked her first question. "I'm sure that by now you've heard about the assault that occurred in an alley by the docks yesterday morning?" She wanted to see if he'd answer honestly or try to deny knowledge of the attack. This was a small town after all and Mr. Blackstone had been correct in his assessment that news traveled very quickly – especially bad news. There was no way someone as nosy as Smee wouldn't have heard about the crime.

"You mean what happened to the Captain? Yes – I heard about that," he stated. "It's just awful."

"We've been trying to locate potential witnesses to the attack and someone pointed us in your direction saying they'd seen you near the alley yesterday morning. Were you down in that area between 7am and 7:30?" Emma was quite ready to watch him squirm as she awaited his response.

"Umm…," he fidgeted in the chair, obviously unsure how he should answer. "I was down at the harbor yesterday, but I don't really recall what time that was. It was early, that I know because I was heading up to Granny's for breakfast."

"Did anyone see you at Granny's?" she wondered.

"I never actually made it there. I changed my mind and just went back home," Smee said.

"So you don't remember seeing or passing Hook while you were down by the harbor at all?" David jumped in to ask this question.

"No, sir," the twitching pirate first mate replied. "Didn't see the Captain."

"And you didn't hear anything unusual? No sounds of a struggle or voices coming from the alley?" Emma queried, trying hard to keep everything as generic as possible so she could give him all the rope he needed to hang himself.

"Not that I can recall. Maybe I didn't come through the alley at the right time," Smee stated. Emma already knew he was lying. His body language was telling her that, but she lacked the evidence to accuse him without him making a full confession. What she had yet to realize was that David had a trick up his sleeve that he hadn't divulged to her. She had noticed that it was unusually warm in the station, but she didn't know that he'd intentionally bumped up the thermostat so that it would get uncomfortably stuffy. Both he and Mr. Smee were beginning to show signs of overheating with beads of sweat forming on David's forehead. Smee, slowly cracking under the pressure of being interrogated, already had sweat droplets rolling down the side of his face.

"We're going to have to get that thermostat checked again, aren't we?" David spoke up, stripping off his own leather jacket and laying it across the desktop before him. Initially, Emma wasn't sure what he was referring to, but she caught on quickly to her father's clever make him sweat it out tactic. "Sorry it's so hot in here, Mr. Smee. Damned thing keeps getting stuck. Why don't you take off that heavy coat while we finish up here? It should only be a few more minutes, but you're practically melting over there."

Smee could scarcely hide the guilty expression that crossed his face, even if it was only for a split second. He was sweltering in his heavy woolen coat, but if he took it off, he might not be able to conceal the scrape on his forearm, yet if he didn't take it off, they might grow suspicious that he was trying to hide something. He finally relented, deciding that it would be best just to shrug off the outer garment and decide on a reasonable excuse for the scratch if asked.

"So, we won't be much longer?" Smee asked as he slid the wool coat off and tried to carefully drape it over his arm to hide the scratch, not realizing that David's keen eye had already spotted it.

"No, not too much longer," David assured him, catching a glimpse of the bright red scrape just above Smee's right wrist as he removed his coat. "Nasty looking scratch there…"

"Oh, this?" Smee fumbled for an explanation. "Scraped it up on a nail the other day. No big deal."

"Looks pretty bad," Emma said. "Hope you got a tetanus shot."

"Uh…You think I should?" Smee wondered.

"Wouldn't hurt," she replied. "They may not have had that disease where you came from but here, it's something that can definitely be transmitted by a rusty nail."

"Oh, I guess I'd better look into that," Smee said, looking rather concerned. He knew that the Captain's hook was a lot cleaner and a lot sharper than a rusty old nail, but it still got him thinking about diseases that could be transmitted by metal.

"Just one more question," Emma started as she stood back up. "Have you heard any talk on the street about a pocket watch that went missing from my home during a break in yesterday?" She watched him gulp, but where might he lead her from here?

"Someone broke into your home?" Smee asked sheepishly. "I hadn't heard about that…"

"Yes – sometime yesterday morning while I was out of town and after Killian was attacked. I think it may have been the same person and it seems like the watch was the only item they were after."

"I haven't heard a thing about a watch," the sniveling pirate replied, "but I'll let you know if I do hear anything."

"Appreciate it," she stated. "Thanks again for coming in to talk to us. If we have any additional questions, one of us will be in touch."

"That's it?" Smee asked tentatively, standing up and pulling his coat back on before heading outside, not really believing that they'd bought his story, yet not about to challenge his good fortune either. "Like I said, anything to help the Sheriff. How is the Captain doing anyway?"

"He's in pretty bad shape," Emma told him bluntly. "Whoever attacked him worked him over pretty good. He's lucky to be alive."

"Hope he gets well soon," Smee mumbled timidly, the first completely honest thing he'd said. He then scurried out of the door leaving Emma and David alone to discuss what they'd learned from the conversation.

"Well, there's no doubt he's lying," she stated as soon as Smee was out of earshot. "I just wish we had something more than a shaky witness description to hold him."

"I think we might," David grinned as he opened up the top desk drawer, retrieving a sealed evidence baggie which she saw contained Killian's slightly scuffed up hook.

"I wondered where that went," Emma muttered. "Figured it might be with the rest of his stuff, but I wasn't really sure, not that I've been able to bring myself to go through it."

"If you look closely, we might have enough to at least tie Mr. Smee to the attack…" he said as he passed the evidence bag to her to inspect. The first thing she noticed was the dark reddish brown stain on the point.

"Is that blood?" she asked. "And it's not Killian's?"

"I had the hospital lab take a swab yesterday after I found it. Blood type is different," he replied. "And now, seeing that scratch on Smee's arm, I'll hazard a guess that the blood is his."

"Nice tactic," she smiled. "I wondered why it was so warm in here. How'd you know he'd take the coat off though?"

"I didn't, but it was worth a try. I figured he'd do anything he could to try and convince us he wasn't lying or hiding something. The man may have spent centuries amongst pirates, but deception is definitely not one of his stronger traits."

"Keep an eye on him," she stated. "There's no way he thought this up himself. Someone put him up to it. When he asked about Killian's condition, he was genuinely concerned. I could see it on his face and hear it in his voice. I don't think he really wanted to hurt his friend or didn't realize how much he'd hurt him."

"Yeah, I picked up on that too. Wonder who's pulling his strings?"

"That's one of the questions we still need to answer," she sighed. "We also need to figure out what it had to do with the watch and that coin. I thought for sure that Smee would break when I mentioned the watch, but he actually surprised me by not cracking."

"This is proving to be a far bigger mystery than it originally seemed," David said as he leaned the chair backward to throw his feet up onto the desk."

"Just keep an eye on Smee," she repeated. "The way he squirmed at the mention of the watch means it's definitely the key to solving this. I just need for Killian to get a look at that coin."

"He hasn't woke up again?" David wondered.

"He was conscious for a few minutes earlier. I asked him about the attack, but he doesn't remember much. He did say that he thought someone went through his pockets, so if that someone was Smee, he was definitely looking for something."

"For the watch, you think?"

"That's pretty likely at this point," she replied as she sat down on the corner of the desk, shoving David's crossed legs to the side.

"You didn't have time to show him the coin?" he asked as she let out a deep breath.

"I can't show him the coin," she said with a deep sigh, but the statement only seemed to confuse him. "The head injuries left him temporarily blinded," she explained. "He can't see anything more than light and shadows at this point and probably won't be able to until more of the swelling inside his skull goes down."

"Emma, I'm sorry," David apologized as he lowered his feet back down to the floor and sat up properly in the chair. "I had no idea. Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"It's okay, Dad. It really wasn't that big of a deal. As Whale said, it's a minor side effect. Killian wouldn't want everyone feeling sorry for him anyway."

"You're right. He wouldn't appreciate that," David grinned, pleased to see the slightest smile on his daughter's anguished face.

"I'm going to head back over there. Henry is going to stop by after school so I want to be there to prepare him – well, to prepare both of them, I guess."

"Okay. I'll let you know if I see Smee up to anything suspicious," he promised. "I can handle things around here. You've got enough to worry about right now with Hook and the baby…" Emma spun around to face him at the mention of the baby, nearly sliding off the edge of the desk. She didn't even have a chance to ask him how he knew before he chuckled and stated: "You know your mother…"

"I swear this entire town is going to know before I get a chance to tell Killian!"

"It won't come from me and I'll try my best to keep your mother distracted so the subject doesn't get brought up, but I do think you should tell your husband soon. I think it would do him good to hear that he's going to be a dad."

"I know. Whale keeps telling me the same thing. I just need him to stay awake and coherent long enough for me to share the news."

"Well then, get over there and find the time. Like I said, I've got things covered here."

[itsswansecrets]

7:15 (OuaT, Emma/Regina

Title: 7:15 Fandom: Once Upon A Time Pairing: Emma/Regina Rating: G Word Count: 2936

Regina watched the Sheriff come in bang on 7:15am. Just like every morning. Her tan uniform shirt was pristine, as were her black pants and black boots. She sat in her usual corner booth and opened her newspaper.

“Every day.”

Regina turned to Ruby who was arranging the display of muffins, cookies and other treats on the front counter. “I know,” Regina said, talking in a hushed tone even though the sheriff was well out of earshot. “I don’t know how she manages to arrive at the exact same time every morning.”

“I wasn’t talking about her,” Ruby’s ruby-red lips turned up in a sickly sweet smile. “I was talking about you.”

“Me?”

"Yes you! Every day, every time the Sheriff comes in you make the exact same heart-eyes. I keep expecting to see cartoon hearts floating around your head."

Regina waved away Ruby’s foolishness and started making the Sheriff’s coffee. The Sheriff had the same thing every morning: coffee and a bear claw. Every morning Regina took it to her. Regina owned and managed The Magic Bean, and she insisted that while every other customer had to order at the counter providing table service was the least she could do for her best customer. The Sheriff always left a generous tip when she left her payment at the table. The Magic Bean wasn't the biggest coffee shop in town (Jefferson's Tea Rooms had that honor) but Regina liked to think it was the best. She took regulars like the Sheriff as proof.

Regina took the coffee and pastry to the Sheriff as always. They said a pleasant good morning to each other. When Regina got back to the counter Ruby was grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

They served a wave of six customers that came in and Ruby was still grinning every time she looked at Regina.

“What is with you today?” Regina asked when the last of the customers in the wave had headed for a table.

“It’s not just the way you look at her,” Ruby said. “Once you’ve taken her coffee over you come back with a spring in your step.”

“Oh hush,” Regina rolled her eyes. “Now you’re being totally ridiculous.”

“There’s nothing ridiculous about it,” Ruby insisted. “Why should there be? She’s pretty hot. If it wasn’t for Dorothy I’d probably go ask her out myself.”

Regina snorted at the idea. Ask out the Sheriff! What nonsense! “Why don’t you worry more about your work and less about my love life.”

Regina looked over to the Sheriff. Well there was one true thing in what Ruby had said, Sheriff Swan was pretty hot. But the nonsense about heart-eyes and having a spring in her step was just absurd.

For a week and a half Regina had endured Ruby’s winks and conspiratorial smiles every morning. She had threatened to fire her if she didn’t quit it, though she’d been mostly jokingly.

Mostly.

7:15

The door opened. The little bell above it tinkled. Sheriff Swan came in, dressed neat, boots polished, her blonde hair in a ponytail. Still pretty hot. Maybe it was the uniform. Was that what she found enticing? Not that she found the Sheriff enticing of course, however there was nothing wrong with admitting that the Sheriff was objectively attractive.

“Got it really bad today huh?" Ruby teased.

Regina just raised her eyebrows at Ruby and shook her head.

The routine went on as normal. Regina took over the coffee and bear claw. They said good morning to each other. A friendly professional interaction. Nothing more.

Once she was back with Ruby Regina could tell she was desperate to say something. She was practically vibrating.

“Out with it,” Regina sighed when she couldn't take it any more.

Ruby leaned in close and very quietly said "The Sheriff was checking out your ass when you walked away."

"Seriously? Can we drop this already? When did your brain revert to high school mode?"

"She was, she totally was I swear on my life."

“You’d be better swearing on your job,” Regina said.  Her voice and expression and eyes deadly serious. “I know we’re friends Ruby, but really enough is enough. Please drop this.”

“Okay okay,” Ruby threw up her hands in exasperated surrender.

Regina looked over at the Sheriff. She was reading her paper and drinking her coffee. Of course she hadn't been checking her out.

“It’s just a bad idea,” Emma Swan reiterated.

“Why?” Deputy David Nolan asked again.

“Because it would be awkward. Imagine she said no.”

Emma and David were in her office at the Sheriff’s station going over the paperwork on a recent spate of break-ins in the downtown area. While Emma wanted to get to the bottom of the situation David had steered their talk elsewhere.

“Imagine she said yes,” David countered.

“It’s good coffee. Amazing coffee. I’m not going to risk making a fool of myself. I’d have to find a new place to go.”

David sighed. He saw there was going to be no persuading Emma so he dropped it. It had taken enough effort to get her to confess she thought the woman at The Magic Bean was attractive. Getting her to do something about it was a lost cause.

Emma passed him a report across the desk and changed the subject back to the break-ins.

Aside from a few looks she’d failed to hide Ruby had at last stopped badgering Regina about the Sheriff.

A week went by and on the following Monday something happened that hadn’t happened for a long time.

7:15.

Regina looked at the door.

She waited.

She waited.

She looked at her watch. It turned 7:16.

There was no sign of the Sheriff.

Irrational concern plucked at her thoughts and unwarranted fear churned in her stomach. She was, of course, allowed to be late. She was, of course, entitled to not come at all.

Regina worried anyway. Was she sick? Had she been hurt? Had she picked up something of Ruby’s silly notions and been made uncomfortable? Had she discovered coffee she preferred elsewhere?

As the minutes passed Regina knew that Ruby wanted to comment but appreciated the fact that she didn’t actually say something.

It was just dumb to have this kind of reaction just because one morning one of her regular customers hadn’t come in. It happened all the time. But there was a strange sense of loss. The morning just wasn’t the same without having seen Sheriff Swan. At 8:30 Regina messed up a simple customer order, giving them cream and no sugar instead of sugar and no cream. At 9:30 she dropped a pot of coffee, shattering it. As the morning went on she became frustrated and irate, snapping at Ruby for no reason at all. Every time the bell signalled someone coming in Regina looked up in hope.

It was just after lunch, after Belle French had started her shift, that Sheriff Swan finally came in. She looked exhausted. She nodded at Regina as she went to her usual booth which was unoccupied. It was a great relief to see her. Regina went over right away.

“Afternoon Sheriff, the usual or something else?”

The Sheriff looked up, stifling a yawn. “Usual would be great. I was up all night. There was a jailbreak a couple of counties over. It was a long night of road blocks and searching.”

“Did you get your man?”

“Darn right I did,” Emma smiled.

“Good,” Regina returned the smile. “I’ll be right back with your coffee.”

Back at the counter Regina set about making Emma’s drink. She could feel Ruby and Belle’s eyes on her. She stopped what she was doing and glared at them. "Fine, I find her attractive, I'm still not going to do anything about it." Her gaze dared them to say something about it. Wisely they both kept their mouths shut.

Once Regina had gone back over to Emma, the two of them all smiles, Ruby turned to Belle. "Well at least she admits it now."

"Doesn't matter if she's not going to ask her out," Belle sighed. They watched on. It was incredibly obvious watching them that Regina and Emma both were epically into each other.

"Even if I did like her, and I'm not saying I do, I don't even know if she's gay or bi or interested in me," said Emma from the passenger seat.

David was driving. They were on patrol around town, as much about public visibility as it was about looking for any signs of crime. It had been a couple of days since the all night hunt for the escaped prisoner. "She's definitely gay," David said with the confidence of a man who thought he knew what he was talking about.

Emma blinked. "How would you know that?" She found it implausible that David would suddenly become and expert in the sexuality of the manager of her favorite coffee shop.

"Mary-Margaret," he said.

"How does your wife know if she is gay or not?" Emma blinked as one possible way occurred to her. "They didn't date or something?"

"Oh, no no, nothing like that. She's good friends with Ruby who works there. Ruby was asking Mary-Margaret if she had any idea if you were into women."

"Why would Ruby want to know if I'm into women?"

David opened his mouth to answer, then hesitated. He took a second and decided to answer anyway. "I kinda told Mary-Margaret I wouldn't say anything because Ruby swore her to secrecy but apparently Ruby thinks Regina might be interested in you."

"And what exactly did Mary-Margaret tell Ruby?"

"The truth," David said.

"Mary-Margaret told me Emma's as gay as a sparkly rainbow unicorn," Ruby said to Regina as they were wiping down the tables at the end of the day. "Those were her exact words."

Regina stopped. "I thought we weren't going to mention this again, something about someone getting fired if they did."

"Hey you totally opened it back up for discussion when you told us you were into her," Ruby countered. She stepped back from the table she'd been cleaning, checking she hadn't missed any spots. "It's an official rule."

David eased the car around a right turn.

“Well it doesn’t matter anyway, gay or straight I’m not going to...”

“Take a chance?” David suggested.

Emma sighed the sigh of someone being forced to talk about something when they'd much rather be doing anything else. “More like take a risk. It’s just not worth the embarrassment.”

“If you don’t take risks you don’t get anywhere,” David slowed to a stop at a red traffic light. “If Mary-Margaret hadn’t taken a chance and talked to me we would have never gotten together and wouldn’t be happily married now.”

Emma shifted uncomfortably. “My track record with women sucks, it’ll be weird and awkward. Who asked out the lady that serves them coffee every morning?”

“Lots of people.”

“What possible good could come of it? Green light.” Emma gestured.

David glanced up sure enough the light had turned green. He resumed driving. “Romance and happiness?”

Emma rolled her eyes like that was the silliest thing she’d heard all day.

“Well,” said Regina, “even if she is gay it doesn’t make a difference.”

“Why not?” Ruby moved on to the next table, giving it a spray with cleaner then wiping.  

“I feel like a stuck record talking about this. It’s inappropriate and it wouldn’t be worth the embarrassment.”  

“If you don’t put yourself out there now and again nothing good will ever happen. Do you think Dorothy and I just magically turned into a couple? It took effort and taking chances and putting ourselves out there.”

Regina put her hands on her hips and huffed out a breath. “It’s not like I have a stellar history with dating. I hardly know her, and when she rejects me she'll never come here again. What good can come of me making a fool of myself?"

"You might get laid," Ruby waggled her eyebrows.

Regina's eyes narrowed to an icy glare.

"And you might get a date with a gorgeous woman who makes you smile like no one else does."

Regina rolled her eyes. "How about we just get this finished?"

That night Emma couldn't sleep for a long time. She rolled from one position to another and still sleep didn't come.

As much as she hated to admit it to herself she couldn't stop thinking about her conversation with David. Emma had been pretty sure that Regina was gay or bi, her gaydar was definitely lit up by her. Confirmation shouldn't have changed anything. But it had. Now she knew for sure another of her excuses for not doing anything about her attraction to Regina was shattered.

Emma was rapidly running out of reasons not to go for it.

In her mind scenario after scenario played out.  All the different things she could say. All the things Regina might say. Whole imaginary conversations unfolded. Some good. Some bad. Some joyous. Some painful. From the realistic to the outlandish the common thread in her flights of fancy was that she was brave enough to take the leap in the first place.

Eventually Emma drifted off into a restless slumber.

Regina made herself a cup of hot cocoa at one in the morning after trying and failing to get to sleep. She sat in the living room with late night junk TV on in hopes it would trigger her brain into sleep mode.

She barely noticed that a trashy Jerry Springer knock-off had come on. She only focused on the screen when one of the people on the show made some weird screeching noise and attacked one of the others. Regina turned the TV off. Even in her sleep deprived state she couldn't face such nonsense.

"How are you in my head like this?" Regina said aloud. "Emma. Emma. Emma Swan. Sheriff Swan." What was it about that particular woman that had gotten so under her skin? This wasn't like her. Regina had never been the kind of person to get infatuated like this.

She finished her cocoa and went back to bed. She couldn't help but imagine how nice it would be to have a certain blonde Sheriff to snuggle up with.

Not that that was ever going to happen.

The next morning Regina kept checking her watch.

7:10

7:11

7:12

"Waiting for something?" Ruby commented sweetly. “Or maybe someone?”

Regina didn’t rise to Ruby's bait.

7:13

Time wasn't this slow every morning was it? She checked the clock on the cash register. Sure enough her watch was right.

When 7:15 finally arrived Regina was busy taking an order from another customer. She glanced over and caught Emma’s eye as she came in. Right on time. Emma smiled and headed to her booth. Regina hurried to deal with her customer who was extremely particular about the complicated concoction he wanted.

Ruby took the job of making the very special coffee for Mr Particular, while Regina made Emma’s drink.

Coffee and bear claw were soon being taken by Regina to Emma. The journey to the booth seemed to be twice as many steps as usual.

“Good morning Sheriff,” Regina said as she set the coffee and pastry in front of Emma.

“Morning,” Emma looked up from her newspaper. To Regina she seemed off. Like she was on edge. Normally Emma appeared to be pretty laid back and at ease with the world. This morning though she looked jittery.

Regina almost asked if she was okay but decided against it. It made for an awkward moment, Regina looking like she was about to speak, and Emma waiting, fidgeting with her hands in front of her.

“Uh, enjoy,” Regina blurted.  

“Thanks,” Emma nodded.

Regina turned away. Instead of stepping away from the booth however she turned back.

Simultaneously Regina and Emma said “Would you like to...” They both stopped, flustered.

“Sorry,” Emma apologised and looked down at her coffee. “What were you saying?”

Regina shifted uncomfortably on her feet. “Oh I, well, I, never mind.” She forced a smile and started away again.

“Wait,” Emma stood up. Regina paused. “Ask me what you want to ask me.”

Regina swallowed her nerves. “I was wondering if sometime you’d like to do something, together. Like dinner or a movie.”

“I would,” Emma licked her lips and their eyes met.

“You would?”

“Absolutely.”

For a moment they just looked at each other.

Had she just...?

Did she say...?

“When?” Regina stepped a little closer.

“Are you free tonight, we go get dinner somewhere,” Emma suggested.

“That would be perfect.”

“Okay,” Emma tugged out her notebook, scribbled on a blank page then tore it off and handed it to Regina. Regina looked at it. It was a phone number. Emma’s phone number. It was tangible proof that this was not the total disaster she had prepared herself for. "If you text me your address I'll come pick you up, say around seven-thirty?"

Regina nodded. "Yes, I should uh," she waved back over to the counter where there were a few customers waiting. "I'll see you tonight Sheriff."

"Emma, if we're going to go on a date call me Emma."

"I'll see you tonight Emma."

Regina hurried to the counter. She was giddy. She was going on a date. She had a million and one things racing through her mind.

Before serving the next customer in line she looked over to Emma. Their eyes met again and they smiled at each other.

They were going on a date!

7:15 would never be the same.

Note: Written for @swanqueenweek day 2 - Coffee AU

[olivereliott]

Custom Bikes Of The Week: 3 February, 2019

We’re back with an extremely oddball selection: possibly the world’s ugliest MV Agusta, a Yamaha XSR700 homage to Claude Fior, a gorgeous Honda CB400 Super Four cafe racer and an absolutely monstrous BMW R1150R scrambler. Grab a coffee and let’s go.

MV Agusta 750 Twin Turbo Prototype We associate MV Agusta with some of the most beautiful motorcycles ever made. The F4 is impossibly good looking, and even the entry-level Brutale draws a crowd.

But it was not always that way. Corrado Agusta commissioned this prototype in the mid 70s from American Tommy Barber, apparently as a test bed for a forced-induction engine. On 105-octane fuel and with an unfeasibly high 12.5:1 compression ratio, output was quoted as 150 horsepower—and the top speed was reportedly 186 mph (300 km/h).

The MV went under the hammer at the Rétromobile auction in Paris last month, with an estimate of between €140,000 and €220,000 (US$160,000 to US$250,000). Despite it being listed as a ‘no reserve’ sale, it failed to sell. Anyone surprised? [Via]

Yamaha XSR700 by Down & Out Lately, we’ve associated England’s Down & Out with the fat-tired scrambler look, which they turned into a signature style. But this new XSR700 from the Rotherham workshop is something radically different. It’s also proof that builders Shaun and Carl are no one-trick ponies.

The XSR700 is called ‘Fior,’ after fabricator and engineer Claude Fior—who designed a Yamaha XS1100 track bike for the Bol d’Or endurance race. That bike had a telelever front suspension, and had a slightly gawky tank as a result. (You can see where this is going …)

D&O haven’t quite turned the XSR700 into a graceful swan, but with the help of designer Kar Lee they’ve delivered one of the most attention-grabbing Yard Built bikes of recent years. Our favorite bit? The twin 5″ halogen headlamps mounted to the fairing for that authentic 80s racebike vibe. [More]

Honda Rebel 500 bobber by Tokwa Party Garage In its 500cc guise, Honda’s quirky little Rebel is the perfect bike for short hops—or cruiser fans who value agility over size. It’s already making waves on the custom scene and this aggressively-styled bobber from the Philippines is one of the best yet.

The Manila-based crew at Tokwa Party Garage built ‘Mad Bob’ for a customer, who supplied the design concept as well as the cash. Loosely inspired by Triumph’s own factory Bobber, the look is dominated by the beefy fork covers, which disguise the spindly stanchions of the stock bike.

Tokwa also fabricated new fenders, the belly pan and a new battery box to clean up the rear. There’s a new traditionally stitched seat too, which replaces the smooth standard perch. The finish on the new parts is all black—to match the existing engine and frame finish.

It’s a classic example of making a little go a long way, in the great tradition of Southeast Asian builders. Not surprisingly, ‘Mad Bob’ won first place in a recent Filipino custom bike show. [More]

Honda CB400 Super Four by Papnman Modified By the time the 90s rolled around, Honda’s CB series had lost some of its iconic status. Most models had become somewhat bland roadsters with middling performance, overshadowed by competitors from other marques.

The CB400 Super Four was one of those forgettable bikes—a smaller capacity machine built for Asian markets. Fortunately, it’s a prime candidate for customization now, and relatively easy to modify.

The Papnmam Modified garage in Indonesia has done a superb job with this elegant café racer, shot by Gastank Magazine. The brief was extremely tight: The frame was nipped and tucked, a Benelli Mojave-style tank was installed, and the Honda was topped-and-tailed with a simple fairing and a waspish tail unit.

Oversized pistons, rejetted carbs and a free-flowing 4-into-2 exhaust system give the engine a little more oomph, and the suspension has been rebuilt to offset two decades of wear and tear. A simple but effective Honda cafe racer. [More]

BMW R1150R by Cowboy’s Chopper We’re all for elegance and understated style, but there’s also a place for bikes that are right in your face. This monolithic BMW R1150R scrambler comes from Cowboy’s Choppers of Taipei, a shop that usually works on small Japanese commuter bikes and Harley choppers.

BMW boxers are a rare sight in Taiwan, and that’s what attracted builder Alex Gao to this machine. High import duties and engine displacement taxes make them toys reserved for an exclusive crowd, and Alex bought this R1150R off a gangster. “It inspired him to create something as menacing as the bike’s previous owner,” we’re told.

The bodywork and subframe were removed very carefully, as the bike would need to be returned to stock for bi-annual safety inspections. A monstrous fuel tank that mimics those on BMW’s endurance racing bikes was hammered and shaped out of sheet metal, and the air box was ditched in favor of pod filters.

Everything that could be powder coated was refinished in black, apart from the handlebar grips and the new leather seat—both finished in grey. The BMW now looks like a bike befitting an intergalactic super villain, but after a strange turn of events, it’s now in the possession of a teacher. [Cowboy’s Chopper]