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jadelynlace · 4 years ago

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Early Mornings / Ink Drinker Modern Vikings AU Request [Ivar x F!Reader]

catch up on the porno, I mean series, here.

requested by: @quantumlocked310 ♡

author’s note: thanks to this post, you’ll all be subjected to the written requests. mentions of smut below the cut.

synopsis: early mornings spent with Ivar, where nothing else matters.

✎

The low morning light left slowly, sucked back in through the curtains as clouds rolled in to take up the sky. You first registered the chill that lapped at you, normally heavy arms had gone distant, and through a turn to grab more of the covers you saw Ivar. His face pressed deeply into the other pillow, nearly completely face down, arms bend at strict angles yet they lacked anything to grab other than the bed itself, hands tucking under the pillow instead. Inked bare shoulders were what caught your sight first, ripples of muscle tracing down his back and disappearing under the covers. Through a turn your lips found his closest shoulder, dotting a morning peck against the skin.

“Hey baby,” Ivar rasped, sleep laden voice huskily meeting your ears. Of course he was already awake, the bastard was always awake.

“Good morning,” You peep back. “‘M cold,”

“Well we can’t have that,” Ivar hums, small smile on his face though his eyes were still closed before he shifts, rolling to his side and grabbing a hold of you. You were pulled up against his chest instantly, naked body morphing to how he was bent from behind you. “Better?”

“Better,” You answer, taking the hand that lay limply across your hip between both of yours to peck his knuckles. As soon as you let go it took its new found freedom to latch onto your chest and you giggled. “Boob man,” You mumble through a slow press back against him, slight indication of his subtle enjoyment meeting your back side.

“Don’t want to go into work today,” comes his sentence a few moments later, striking you slightly because you know how Ivar adores his job. “Want to stay like this all day.” You can only hum in response, pressing back against him as he takes to grabbing you again. A slow grind of his hips send shivers throughout you, taking up home between your legs as he matches each flick with a squeeze to your chest. Ivar groans slightly in response, his lips dipping to the shell of your ear to kiss you there. There’s a gasp that comes through your mouth as lips part, Ivar’s hand skimming down your naked torso and dipping between your folds.

You can only sigh his name as his fingers take to swirling the bundle of nerves slowly, humming back when he lets a low moan slip. Even in the sounds of beginning rain, the wetness outside matches what grows between your legs as he starts to stroke them through your womanhood, a groan coming from Ivar again and passing to you before he pulls his fingers out. They’re brought back up to your mouth, parting your lips and settling against your tongue. You hum at the taste of your juices, and Ivar spreads your legs just a small amount further, his knee making the room before you feel his other hand grab himself. His cock is through your part for a moment and then he’s slipping into you from behind, stretching your inner walls with his girth and you bite down on his digits.

“Oh, fuck, Ivar,” You whisper as his fingers pull back, sucking in a quick breath as he bottoms out. His whimper comes next, quickly overwhelmed by how tightly you’re gripping him in the earliness of the morning. Resting hips against your backside, you start attempting to arch your back to have him sit deeper inside of you. When he lacks to start the first thrust, you inch away slowly, wanting to take over and help him reach his own end but his hands still you.

“Not yet, baby,” Ivar says, voice thick with pleasure as he inhales sharply. “Need to feel you just like this,” His voice then comes. He can feel the flutters of your walls, sliding across his shaft as he stays still, even his hands cease roaming as he pushes against you once more. “Gods, you feel like heaven.”

There’s a slowing of his breathing from behind you, evening out as he relaxes from being inside of you and after moments of stillness, he finally drags his hips—just barely enough to even register as movement but he’s already groaning. Fingertips gripping your curves, trying to starve off a release just from the pleasure of being encased by you.

“Just let go Ivar,” You whisper, trying to tell him it’s alright that he’s already close, that you want to feel him fill you. “I want to feel you come inside of me,” As your words leave your mouth Ivar lets out another low groan, hearty and thick before he drags his cock back, another whisper of a thrust that makes you bite your lip and push back against him to send him deeper. Your back grows warm with the human furnace against it, his chest heaving and you know he’s already getting close from the hardly evident movements of him fucking you. “You feel so good,” You whine, thighs trembling and you turn your head, seeking him out as his hand moves to complete your journey, pushing your head in his direction and his mouth smothers yours.

“Baby, ‘m gonna come,” He slurs against your mouth and all you can do is whimper in response. “‘M co—coming,” His voice says, shakily over your lips as he pulls his hips back just enough to where his tip nearly slips out before he slaps himself back inside of you. The heavy thrust has him meet his end, seed spilling into you as you feel him releasing, milking him to get every last drop. His mouth opens against yours, arms squeezing as the tattoos on his biceps tense with his skin and he moans your name. Guttural sounds moving over the heaviness of the rain outside and you want to hear that noise for the rest of your life. “Fuck, baby,” Ivar whispers after a second. “I’ll make it up to you.” He says, still slightly shivering.

“Stay like this Ivar,” You start, pushing back against him and settling into the sheets. “We have all morning,”

Ink Drinker Tags:

@smileysam13579 @dreamtherapy @heisentwerk @angelofthenightposts @ill-skillsgard @youaremyfamiliar @unbetaedimagines @kathryn-jane @readsalot73 @skrsgardspam @lihikainanea @queen-sarang @anastasiaskarsgard @andmyannabellee @walkxthexmoon @flowers-in-your-hayr @peachyboneless @heavenly1927 @victoria-styles @quantumlocked310 @xbellaxcarolinax @mighty-ragnarssons @alexhandersen-marcoilsoe-fandom @queen-of-upshur @nanahachikyuu @apenas-mais-uma-pessoa @youbloodymadgenius @love-all-things-writing @theanxietyqueen17 @trip2themoon

*please message me to let me know if you would like to be added or removed from my tag list. specifications for series/etc. are also welcomed, as well as feedback.*

full masterlist can be found here.

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hockeylvr59 · 4 years ago

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Secret Love Part 11 || Cale Makar

Requested: [ ] yes [x] no

Authors Note: So I really struggled writing Chapter 10...Chapter 11 however...took me like two days. So yeah...uh characters are still in Iceland, Days 3 and 4 sightseeing will be posted following this. As always all posts for this series can be found by searching the tag ‘038’ on my blog. Let me know what you think.

Gif Credit: @j-compher

Warnings: cursing, oral sex, smut, unprotected (on birth control but no condom) smut

Word Count: 3,819

~~~~~~

If you’d thought day two of your trip had involved a lot of driving, you were in for a rude awakening moving forward.

The morning of your third day in Iceland, you and Cale had slept in until around 8 am before getting up, heading down to breakfast, packing up and then checking out of the hotel. Before leaving Reykjavik, you stopped at a market to stock up on some drinks and snacks, then a gas station for a refill before finally hitting the road heading south.

After about an hour and 40 minute drive, you reached your first stop: Seljalandsfoss Waterfall. This waterfall was the perfect photo op because you could actually walk behind the falls. Taking some sillier but also sweet pictures, you continued on to another waterfall about a half hour away. From there, you stopped for lunch before Cale drove on to Dyrhólaey Nature Reserve.

The nature reserve was home to sea stacks and arches and the view from the upper trail was breathtaking. It had only been three days but already you were certain that Iceland was one of the most beautiful countries in the world. After taking in the views from above, you headed to the lower trail and onto Reynisfjara beach.

There, black sand stretched in front of you as far as you could see. It was so different than any other beach you’d ever been on but it was honestly really, really cool. As cool as the sand was, the rock formations lining the beach were even cooler. After walking tucked into Cale’s side for a little bit you looked up at the cliffs to your left and immediately started freaking out. Jumping up and down, trying not to squeal, you tugged on Cale’s sleeve as if your previous actions hadn’t already gained his attention.

“What are you freaking out about?” Cale asked, mystified expression on his face.

“Puffins!” You squealed quietly, pure glee on your face. “They’re so cute!” The last thing you wanted to do was disturb the birds, but you were so excited to see them it was impossible to keep completely silent. Of course, you kept your distance, simply admiring them from afar.

Cale didn’t seem to know what to do with your reaction but he let you have your moment watching the birds, his lips pressed against the top of your head. As you headed back down the beach Cale rubbed his thumb against your side.

“I take you to see beautiful geological formations but it’s the birds you’re excited about.” He mused, shaking his head.

“Leave me alone.” You pouted. “You don’t just see puffins anywhere you know.” Lifting your chin, Cale kissed you softly.

“As long as you’re having fun and are excited about something I’m happy.” He insisted, his arm pulling you closer into his side.

It wasn’t a far drive to the village of Vik which Cale informed you was where you were staying for the night. Unlike yesterday where you had been going non-stop, not returning to your hotel until after 11pm, today you were already here and it was only late afternoon.

After checking into your hotel, you dropped off your bags and used the bathroom before heading into the village itself to park and walk around. Stopping into the tourist shop, you browsed around looking specifically at all of the locally made products. Eventually, you spotted a set of glass coasters made from the black sand of the beaches you’d just been on. Across the tops, various local scenes were painted. They were simple but beautiful and your fingers lingered across the tops of them.

“Those are nice.” Cale said, appearing over your shoulder suddenly.

“Yeah they are.” You agreed. Picking up two sets, Cale handed you one.

“We should get them. One for the house, one for my apartment.” Cale declared. “That way we both have something to remind us of this trip.”

“That’s really soft Cale.” You murmured.

“Don’t care.” He replied. Though you continued to look around, there wasn’t anything else that spoke to you as much as the set of coasters did and eventually you headed to the register to purchase them.

Walking around the village you took in how cute and quaint it was. Soon after your stomachs started complaining, you stumbled into a small restaurant. There you and Cale split a pizza with pesto for sauce, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, parma ham, topped with a balsamic glaze and parmesan cheese. It was delicious and you left feeling completely stuffed.

You’d called it an early night back at the hotel, settling for a movie on Netflix as you curled up together in bed. A relaxing evening was exactly what you needed to recharge and be ready to continue on your journey.

Day four of your trip started by filling up the gas tank and then embarking on an hour long drive to Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon.

Just before you reached the canyon, you encountered a small turn off which led you to a viewpoint. Climbing out of the car you walked up the pathway until you reached a platform. As far as the eye could see were moss covered rocks and it truly felt like you had stepped onto another planet.

“Are you sure we’re still on planet earth?” You whispered to Cale. Your boyfriend chuckled quietly in response, his hand resting on your hip. It seemed like the more time you spent alone together, not worried about who you saw or who saw you, the more reliant on physical touches each of you became. You’d never felt so comfortable just being with someone and thinking back on the times you’d seen Cale with Sara, you had a feeling the same could be said for him.

With more pictures clogging up your phones, you continued on to the Canyon itself. It was only a two-minute walk to the start of the canyon from the car and the moment you reached it your jaw dropped.

“Cale…” You whispered. You didn’t even have words to describe how beautiful this place was.

“Woah...sweetheart.” Cale’s thumbs brushed against your cheeks as he spoke and it wasn’t until he pulled you into his chest that you realized you were crying. “Shhh..give your brain a minute to process.” Cale assured you. His patience with you seemed neverending as his hands stroked your back until you finally calmed down.

“Sorry…” You mumbled, wiping frantically at your eyes when you finally pulled away.

“Nothing to be sorry about.” Cale insisted. “You’re allowed to be emotionally effected by things. It’s normal. Especially when it’s something as amazing as this.” Cale’s lips pressed gently to your forehead and he dropped his hand from your back to lace your fingers together. “You good to go walk?” He questioned.

It took about 45 minutes to walk all the way up to the top of the canyon and back and you stopped for pictures at various points along the way. You still couldn’t put into words the way this place made you feel; it was all so overwhelming in the best way. As you stood off to the side of the first viewpoint, away from the majority of other tourists, you tugged Cale’s hand until he was close enough you could wrap your arms around his neck.

“Thank you.” You murmured, kissing him lightly. “You always know exactly what I need, you’re always putting me first and taking care of me. It doesn’t go unnoticed, and you don’t know how much I appreciate it. You mean the world to me Cale...I don’t know if I’m quite as good at showing it as you are, but I hope you know that.”

“I do...know that…” Cale responded, kissing you again gently before pulling away, a fondness in his eyes that nearly sent you reeling. Dragging your fingers along his lower back you made up your mind to show him just how important he was to you once you were actually alone.

Back in the car, you munched on some of the snacks you’d brought in lieu of trying to find somewhere to stop for lunch. It took almost two hours to get to your next stop, the Jökulsárlón Iceberg Lagoon.

There, the two of you hopped on a boat tour where you got to taste a piece of 1,000 year old ice as you toured the lagoon. It was incredible to see first hand just how much ice was breaking off of the glacier and it made you more cognizant of the consequences of global climate change.

Right across the highway from the lagoon was Breiðamerkursandur or the diamond beach where fragments of ice wash up after floating from the lagoon out into the ocean. You made Cale climb onto an iceberg so you could take a picture of him and you got some great shots of all of the ice scattered along the shore. Despite the fact that it wasn’t all that cold outside, having been surrounded by ice for the past hour or two left you feeling chilly even if you had dressed in layers.

As you climbed in the car, Cale turned the heat on and you squeezed his knee in thanks. It was just a short drive to your hotel for the night and once you’d checked in, you shed a few layers before heading to the bar for a drink before dinner.

You’d retreated to your room around 6:30pm and Cale hopped in the shower first to clean up. While you waited for him to finish, you dug in your bag trying to decide what to grab for after your own shower. Thinking back to how you had promised yourself you were going to show Cale just how important he was, you unzipped a small compartment where you’d hidden the lingerie you’d bought.

Buying lingerie had been a spur of the moment decision possibly fueled by a few glasses of wine, and the thought of actually wearing it made you nervous. Your sex life with Cale had been fairly tame so far, nothing too out of the box. It had also been completely spontaneous on every occasion. You honestly had no idea how he would react to lingerie and though both sets were fairly tame in comparison to some sets you’d seen online, this was still something new and therefore nerve wracking.

Hearing the shower turn off, you jumped, your heart racing as you grabbed the more modest of the two sets. If you were going to do this, you were going to ease into it. Collecting your cosmetic bag, you hid the lingerie close to your chest.

Slipping into the bathroom as soon as Cale exited, you stripped out of your clothes and stepped into the shower trying not to overthink this. Focusing on shaving your legs and cleaning up served as a bit of a distraction but as you toweled off, your eyes landed back on the lingerie you’d placed on the counter.

You were certain you’d talk yourself out of this if you had to stare at yourself wearing the lingerie in the mirror for too long, so you started with your makeup, doing just a little bit more than you had been lately in order to make yourself feel confident and sexy. Blow drying your hair, you brushed it out before finally reaching for the lace and silk fabric.

Burgundy colored silk sat low on your hips, edged by black lace along both of your thighs. The same black lace covered your chest, ending at the bottom of your ribcage leaving your stomach exposed. It was...sensual but not over the top and when you slid the burgundy silk robe over it, you felt like you might actually be able to pull this off.

Reminding yourself that Cale had nearly lost his shit at the sight of you in a bikini the other night, you took a deep breath before opening the bathroom door and stepping out into the bedroom. Cale was sprawled out on the bed with just a pair of shorts slung low on his hips.

“What do you want to watch tonight?” Cale’s question was asked before he ever looked up at you, but when he did he blinked slowly. “That’s uh...that’s not your usual pajama set…” He murmured.

Blood pounding through your veins, you moved across the room to climb onto the bed beside him. Grabbing the remote from his hand, you turned the tv off before setting the remote aside.

“I was thinking about a different form of entertainment tonight…” You stated, your own voice sounding foreign in your ears. Sliding over Cale’s lap until you were straddling him, your hands ran down along his arms as his eyes did a slow once over of your body. “I think it’s time I take care of you for once.” You husked, raising an eyebrow. Cale hadn’t even seen what was under the robe yet and already he was slack jawed. The power you held over him in that moment sent a rush of adrenaline through you and you slid down the bed, tugging his shorts and boxers down with you.

“You good handsome?” You teased, lightly stroking your fingers over the length of his rapidly hardening dick. Cale couldn’t seem to speak, but he nodded his head and for now that was enough consent. Flicking your tongue along the slit of his cock, you stroked the length of him in your hand until a soft grunt fell from his lips. Only then did you hollow your cheeks, sinking down around him, taking as much of his length as you could down your throat. Bobbing slowly, you felt him twitch and when you pulled back to breathe you ran your tongue along the veins on the underside of his cock.

Following your instincts, plus Cale’s body language and verbal clues, you settled into a rhythm blowing your boyfriend for the first time. You’d seen and felt Cale orgasm enough to know when he was getting close as his body strained beneath you.

“Fuck. Babe. Stop.” Cale gasped, but peeking up at him you knew he didn’t actually want you to stop.

“We’ve got all night handsome...plenty of time for you to recover after coming down my throat.” You murmured before flicking your tongue through his slit again collecting all of his precum. Returning to your efforts, you cupped his balls as you sunk down his length. After just a minute, Cale came with a moan as he spilled down your throat and after swallowing you pulled off of him, sliding your tongue along his skin to clean him up. Cale’s cheeks were flushed as he tried to catch his breath and you slid up his body, settling yourself back over his lap.

“Who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend?” Cale gasped, his head falling forward to land against your shoulder. Kissing his head, you ran your fingers through his hair waiting for him to become more coherent.

“Just trying to take care of my man.” You hummed. “But if you’re complaining...you don’t have to see what’s under the robe.” As you spoke, you drew his hands up to the tie at your waist, leaving it for him to undo.

The speed at which Cale undid the bow told you that he wasn’t complaining at all and you let him push the robe from your shoulders, his eyes landing on you once more. His cheeks flushed further to match the color of your shorts and his eyes were wider than you’d ever seen them. You let him stare, watching as his tongue ran over his lips leaving them wet and shiny in the dim lighting of the hotel room.

“Fuck…” Cale breathed harshly, drawing out the word. “I must be dreaming right now.” He added. “You’re a fucking dream sweetheart.” Cale’s eyes ran slowly up and down your body like he wanted to memorize every inch. “You bought this for me?”

“I take it you like it?” You assumed, letting out a soft sigh in relief at his reaction.

“What do you think?” Cale grunted, pulling your hips to roll down against his cock which was already hard again.

Laughter bubbled from your chest in reaction and you cupped his cheek as you leaned in to kiss him deeply.

“Good to know lingerie is a hit with you.” You admitted. Cale’s eyes flashed with concern for just a moment before his hand fell to your hips, his thumbs brushing against your bare stomach.

“I don’t know whether I want you to keep this on or take it off.” He declared. Clearly he knew better than he thought he did, because as he spoke his hands slid up your sides, gently gripping the fabric and drawing it up and over your head. Half nude on top of him, Cale’s hands cupped your breasts as he pulled you into a desperate kiss.

“Can’t believe you’re mine…” He mumbled, pulling back. There was something about seeing him like this, flushed red, swollen lips, blissed out from one orgasm already that lit every primal need inside of you. As much as you were his, he was yours and god did you need him inside you.

“Please Cale…” You whimpered, rolling your hips against his.

“Shh…” He soothed, hands gliding across your ass. Sensing that he was going to try and flip you, you kept your weight centered firmly above him.

“I wanna be on top.” You pleaded. “Just need out of these shorts…”

Cale wasn’t responding quickly enough, so you pushed the fabric of your shorts off of your own hips, shifting as little as possible while attempting to kick them off and onto the floor.

“Let me…” You cut off Cale’s statement by raising your hips and lowering yourself onto his dick, a gasp spilling from your throat as you felt him slipping deep inside you.

“Yes…” You hissed, the stretch of your body around him filling you with a warmth and ache that you had missed so much. As you started shallowly leveraging yourself up before dropping back down your eyes met Cale’s deep azure orbs, the look in them heightening your arousal.

“So wet.” Cale eventually groaned. “My girl doesn’t even need foreplay after blowing me to be this soaking wet. Fuck.”

Though one of Cale’s hands fell to your hips, you were the one putting in all of the effort to fuck yourself on his cock.

“You’re so needy...fucking yourself...just using my body for your pleasure. So much for wanting to take care of me tonight.” Sinking down on him again, you purposely tightened your vaginal walls against him, drawing another moan from his chest.

“Hmm...I think me doing all the work...letting you cum inside me while you just lay there is taking pretty good care of you…” You corrected. Your thighs were starting to burn from bouncing on top of him but your orgasm was within arm’s reach and there was no way you were stopping before ensuring you both got to climax.

“My girl is close.” Cale groaned. “Cum for me sweetheart...let me feel that tight heat clamp down on me.”

Cale’s words pushed you over the edge and you sunk down on him in exhaustion as your body shook with your orgasm. Spurts of Cale’s semen filled you from deep inside and you whimpered at the feeling, warm from head to toe. As you collapsed against him, still connected intimately, Cale’s fingers played with the ends of your hair.

“I can’t get enough of you.” Cale whispered a few minutes later, his cock starting to harden inside of you again.

“Again?” You inquired, a little bit in disbelief that his rebound time was this fast.

“Only if you want to.” He assured you. “But I’ll take over, you can relax and enjoy this time.” This time when Cale attempted to roll the two of you over, you went willingly, staring up at him. Before moving, Cale settled your legs up over his shoulders and when he thrust inside of you, you cried out softly at the feeling of him brushing against your g-spot.

“I got you sweetheart...just tell me what you need.” Cale sighed, pleasure lacing his tone.

The sound of your skin smacking together and the squelch of your mixed bodily fluids rang in your ears.

“Talk to me…” You pleaded. “Like before.” You weren’t afraid to admit that hearing Cale dirty talk had pushed you so much closer to orgasm than you would have been otherwise.

“Yeah?” Cale breathed, his cheeks turning bright red again as you nodded. “You feel so good like this sweetheart. You’re even wetter than before. So tight too.” Every movement he made brushed against your g-spot and you couldn’t help the litany of noises that fell from your lips at the feeling.

“You like it when I fuck you like this huh?” He continued. “Your pussy stretches around me so nicely, just welcoming me inside. Do you like being fucked nice and deep like this? Feeling each ridge of me against your walls...feeling me spill deep inside you?” Crying out again, your head tossed back and forth against the pillow, your orgasm creeping up on you quickly.

“You do like feeling me spill inside of you don’t you? That’s why you wanted to stop using condoms. You like being skin to skin with me, feeling me raw you bare. You like being filled with my warm sticky cum, the way it drips out of you if I let it…”

Your vision went black for a moment as your orgasm crashed down on you hard. The muscles in your thighs spasmed painfully, but you barely noticed through the waves of pleasure that rippled through you, leaving you panting. As your body clenched around him again, you felt Cale spill inside of you for the second time tonight.

Carefully he pulled out of you before kissing your lips lightly.

“Be right back.” He declared, disappearing into the bathroom. He returned with a washcloth and after wiping down your thighs, he offered you a hand so that you could go to the bathroom yourself. When you returned to the bedroom, Cale handed you a t-shirt to wear before guiding you under the covers.

“So dirty talk huh…?” He chirped, his nose brushing against the top of your head.

“Shut up and turn the tv on Cale.” You replied, feeling heat flood your cheeks. Chuckling, Cale complied, but as he handed you the remote to pick a show he couldn’t help but get in the last word.

“It’s hot. I enjoyed it.” Shaking your head, you snuggled against him just basking in what was left of the afterglow.

“And for the record...you can always surprise me with lingerie. I’m definitely into that as well.”

Lingerie:

#cale makar #cale makar imagine #colorado avalanche #colorado avalanche imagine #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #hockey imagines #hockey imagine #nhl smut #hockey smut #cale makar nws #nws #lemon #cavalanche #038

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rq-s · 4 years ago

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Title: Lucid Dreams - Chapter 1

Word Count: 2680

Warnings: Mingyu is featured heavily in the first few chapters and is directly involved in significant plot events. Due to recent events, I understand if reading these chapters may make you uncomfortable, but be aware that you’d be missing core story elements by skipping them. (Details)

Lucid Dreams Masterlist

Prologue |

It was an hour after dawn, the streets were busy with students and workers on their commute. Yn gazed out of her apartment window, forlornly missing when she would do that. Why wasn’t I doing that? I should still be in college, worrying about scores and my social life.

She was still slowly waking up, with unfocused eyes and bad balance, as she sat at her desk. She shifted in her chair and faced her journal again, with two blank pages staring up at her.

It started as a school project, but it turned into a habit that Yn kept through her youth.

Yn stood and left it open without having written anything, frustrated with herself. If she had dreamt last night, it was long gone from her mind, and she had nothing else to write. There were more days like this lately. Update-less, absent days.

Eventually, Yn left the apartment complex with her phone and wallet and walked the familiar path. For weeks she had been going on walks around town, and she’d always somehow pass by the same peculiar store. She found herself lingering there, wanting to go in just to have her questions answered, but something within herself always stopped her. Online searches turned up very little. Just some patents, an under construction website, a local news article, and a few social media postings by previous customers. Everything she found only made her more curious.

The town seemed quiet, though it wasn’t ever busy. It made the journey to Dream Store a peaceful one, even as Yn's nervousness began to bubble.

She arrived a few hours before noon, the sunlight warm and shining brightly past the cartoonish and fluffy clouds. The well-tended potted plants, power washed sidewalk, and neon sign all had a strangely comforting feeling to them that welcomed her. Even the grey layered siding was sweet, despite how it clashed with the surrounding architecture. Yn stood on the sidewalk, facing the front patio, and hardened her resolve. Today would be her first time seeing what it was like inside; she refused to put it off anymore.

Yn approached the door in quick strides and read the print on the window before entering. “Dream Store | keeping hold of our hearts.”

Her breathing went still as soon as she pulled the door open. It was more spacious inside than the exterior led on, having a pastel pallet and being well lit. It felt like the door way was more then just the entrance to a business.

The first thing to see was the bar. A fairly long one, taking up most of the far wall, yet was still tucked in the corner. From the left wall towards the center were eight different taps, and on a counter behind the bar were two large blenders, a sink, and a small ice cream station with five flavors. A small Bluetooth speaker on the end of the counter was playing instrumental lo-fi, and somehow the air itself felt light and bubbly against her skin. On the wall above the bar was a large LED menu with what appeared to all be beverages in narrow-necked glass bottles. On the little space that was left against the far wall was a freezer, decorated in stickers and notes. So it’s a juice bar? The tweets just mentioned ice cream. There was a hallway by the fridge, presumably leading to bathrooms and the staff area. In front of that and against the right wall were wood tables and chairs with mismatched cushions. There were similar tables meant for two on the left side, with what seemed to be medium sized square lockers, and two vending machines full of those same bottled drinks from the LED screen. It all felt surreal, it was too perfect.

“Excuse me?” Yn’s attention was brought back to reality by the voice of man, one she hadn’t even seen standing behind the bar until that moment. His fingers were intertwined and rested gently on the bar while he leaned forward, as if he’d been calling her for a while. Once he saw he had her attention, he stood upright and smiled sincerely.

“Welcome to our Dream Store!” It was as if the entire scenario was a prank, he was an actor and this business was a set. Everything was still and quiet, with nothing and nobody in existence but this store and the two of them.

Finally, Yn approached the bar.

Instead of a name tag, the name Mingyu was sewn onto the collar of his white dress shirt. He was very tall, and his uniform was clearly tailored for to fit him perfectly. His smile was kind and courteous as he spoke to her.

“Is this your first time here?” He asked gently, but with no less energy in his voice than before. Yn nodded.

“Gotcha, let’s find you a table then.” He chirped, and walked around from behind the bar, grabbing a physical menu from somewhere behind the register. “Do you like to sit by the window, or in the corner?”

“Anywhere that lets me see the exits, please.” She answered softly. Mingyu didn’t seem phased by her request and tapped his chin in thought while looking around. Only then did Yn notice one of the benches by the hallway was taken, where two teenage girls were fast asleep. It wasn’t uncommon to see college kids or overworked employees taking powernaps at cafés, but seeing them sleeping so peacefully while hunched over the table was something Yn found odd. Are those pillows matching the seat cushions?

Mingyu decided to seat her at one of the tables for two, the one closest to the taps on the bar. She could observe the whole store there, and had a clear view of the front door and the hallway, while sitting snugly in the corner by the vending machines. Yn sat down carefully as Mingyu set the menus in front of her. Sitting down brought her attention up, making her notice the peculiar ceiling with exposed beams, cords, pipes, and ducts, all painted white to match the ceiling itself. Something about the unconventional look of it was comforting for Yn, as if the establishment itself was being laid bare for her.

“First, thank you for coming in, we really appreciate your interest,” He smiled awkwardly for a moment before continuing, “I’m going to get someone from the back to watch the register for me, feel free to look at that menu in the meantime.” Mingyu lowered his head a tiny bit then swiftly headed down the hallway.

Thank you for visiting our Dream Store! All the staff here are proud of our beverages, passionate about our purpose, and excited to give you a safe, enjoyable experience when you spend time with us. We believe that we offer your community something special, not only with our drinks, but with our potential to give each visitor a unique and individualized experience.

Mingyu came back before she could read further, with another tall young man behind him, who promptly went behind the counter and washed his hands after smiling in acknowledgment to her. He seemed familiar, but she didn’t know why or how. Mingyu sat himself across from her with a sigh, feeling very nervous and struggling to act like he wasn’t.

“Alright, sorry about that. Did you get a chance to look at the menu?”

“Only the first paragraph.”

“Okay cool, the way the menu explains it is kind of weird, so it’s better that I do it.” Yn only grew more confused. She watched as Mingyu glanced over towards the other man, she wanted to look back to see what was going on, but didn’t. Instead, Yn watched as Mingyu squinted, shook his head in confusion, and then silently gasped in realization, all within a few moments. Mingyu swallowed and nodded to himself before redirecting his focus back to her.

“Is it alright if I know your name?”

“Uh, sure? It’s Yn.” He nodded formally and put on awkward smile.

“It's nice to meet you, I’m Mingyu. Like I said, thanks for coming in today.” He failed to fight the cringe on his own face and hurried past it.

“Essentially, we can offer you different kinds of drinks: juices, sodas, and smoothies. They’re all made by us, with our recipes, and you can either have them made for here or to go, or even from the coolers right here.” He leaned over and patted the cooler that had a variety of colored drinks in sturdy glass bottles.

“Why do you need to explain that to me?” She asked without thinking, having already picked up on the fact that this was a place that sold beverages. It was a selling point that they concoct them themselves, and that they can do all this seemingly without a big brand to fund them, but she doubted that it required introduction to every new customer. Yn heard the man behind the register chuckle, then try to hide it with a cough.

“I was getting there.” He stammered, his face flushing a soft red.

“If you’d like to have something here, there’s the option to make it a sleep aid. We call it a Sleepy. With those, we prepare the drink as we usually would, but instead of the liquid sugar we usually use, we use a mix of liquid sugar and drowsiness medicine. We’ve been able to use that in a low volume but effective dose to allow our customers to have a refreshing drink, followed by a recharging nap.” Yn watched him cringe again as he tried his best to explain it without making it sound as bizarre as it was. He continued as soon as she tried to comment, eager to get it the introduction over with.

“You don’t need to worry though! When a visitor picks one of our sleepy drinks, we give them a key to their corresponding table, and that key opens one of those lockers. You can put your things there beforehand so you know they’re safe while you sleep. We have cameras in here and outside, and there’s always at least one member of staff on duty who's trained to handle altercations of any kind, and all of us are trained in first aid and emergency procedures like CPR.” There was another chuckle from behind her, and he didn’t even try to hide it this time. Mingyu glared at him, and this gave Yn her opening to speak.

“So you take safety seriously, that’s good…” She was at a loss of what to say, having been bombarded with information, all of it outside of what she’d expected. She wasn't sure what the odds were leaning toward: him having a scripted yet speedy and thorough defense to any worries or questions she’d have, or that he’d flounder as soon as she asked for details.

“Of course we do. We know it’s a risk to just take a nap at a café. Especially one run but a bunch of young adult guys. But we’re trying something new that no one else in the world is doing, and we really believe in it.” Mingyu’s sudden sentiment was sincere, and his nervousness looked more like vulnerability now. Something compelled her to trust him. Maybe what he was saying about having something completely unique wasn’t true, Yn had no clue, but it might as well be for a town like theirs.

“You’ll notice that we have 13 distinct drink options available right now, each one named after a member of the staff.” Mingyu opened the menu and flipped a few pages till Yn could see depictions of each of the drinks. They were colorful, and beautifully presented on the pages, with descriptions of each one. He stopped on a page of cool toned drinks.

“Let’s say you come in and decide to order a Sleepy Mingyu, that’s this one,” He pointed to the deep purple iced drink and tapped its picture fondly. “It’ll come in a medium glass bottle, with a straw and napkin of course, along with a locker key that corresponds to whatever table you pick. While we’re making it, you can put your stuff in the locker, and inside the locker will be a small pillow, but you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. We switch the covers after every use and wash all of them each night, so don’t worry about that either. You can decide to keep the key with you, or give it to whoever’s at the register for safekeeping.” He began to ramble again, wracking his brain to make sure he mentioned everything Yn could possibly need to know while to keep himself from growing too embarrassed. She sat there patiently, listening as he helped her understand. He seemed to grow more uneasy with each word.

“You’ll probably want to wait at your table till the drink is done, it usually takes less than five minutes. We’ll bring it to you.”

Mingyu paused and took a deep breath, biting the inside of his cheek in thought, picking his words carefully. He hadn’t looked at her since his sentiment about safety and now it seemed like he was actively choosing not to look up at her.

“The Sleepys only come in medium because the drowsiness medicine is fast acting, and we try to make sure that you’ll have enough time to finish it all before you fall asleep.” He looked to the man behind the counter, and this time Yn dared to look at him too. But he only looked at Mingyu, giving his coworker an encouraging, albeit aggressive, thumbs up. Mingyu shook his head.

“This is really weird, Jun. How do you guys explain this kind of thing without seeming creepy?!” He seemed deeply upset, frustrated and on the verge of tears. It suddenly felt like Yn was intruding on something private.

“Take a breath, okay?” The man came around the counter and spoke gently to his colleague, kneeling to the ground like a father would when speaking to a child. He was close enough now that Yn could read the name on his collar as Junhui. He put his hand on Mingyu’s knee and squeezed it a few times, urging him to relax. Then he turned to Yn.

“Once you finish your drink, you’re gonna fall asleep, and we’ll watch over you while you do. You’ll have a great dream, and we’ll wake you up at whatever time you told us to when you ordered, or after you’ve been asleep for 2 hours.” Junhui stood back up, and patted Mingyu’s shoulder while still looking at Yn.

“Mingyu is a really great guy. He cares a lot about people and about what we're trying to do here. And if you ask me, his drink is one of the best.” Junhui’s smile was warm and his tone of voice was calming as he praised his friend. Mingyu still couldn’t look at her, facing away from her entirely and looking downtrodden. Yn didn’t know what to say and instead decided to read the blurb about Mingyu's concoction.

A sweetly rich concord grape flavored soda! Mingyu’s soda brings one’s imagination to life, while remaining proud and inspired.

“I’ll try it.” She spoke casually, trying to imagine what such a drink would taste like. It had been so long since she’d had a grape flavored drink of any kind, and something carbonated sounded great in that moment.

“You don’t have to.” Mingyu said pitifully, assuming she chose his drink to help him feel better.

“The picture looks really pretty, I wanna see if it really looks like that.” Her bluntness stunned him, and he wondered if she was bluffing. Even so, he resolved to grin and bare it, standing up from the table. Junhui stepped back and smiled, leaving silently as Mingyu went back behind the counter.

“Alright… Let’s get it ordered then!” He bolstered, ready to reaffirm himself in the form of a fancy looking grape juice.f

#rq-s lucid dreams #seventeen #svt #seventeen x reader #mingyu x reader #kim mingyu x reader #svt mingyu x reader #seventeen fluff #seventeen angst #seventeen au #just a note: i'm not sure about hwo realisticly possible the concept of the slyy drinks is #i spent some time researching it but just remeber that this isnt suposed to refelt reality 100%#aka please dont get mad at me if it's weird logistically #id also like to say that in no way shape or form are th esleepys intended to be similar to a club drug or any other type of nefarious drug #im sorry if this makes anyone uncomfortable #please bear with me as things are explained farther in futuer chapters #but rest assured that that kind fo content isnt goign to be in this story in any capacity #ANYWAY this is the first chapter!#after this we'll start getting into more fanfictiony content with the boys but there will still be a bit more explanaton of things #but this is hopefully the most heavy handed that will be #im trying to integrate it better but this was the best i could manage for this section #i hope it wasnt too confusing and if you have any questions please feel free to ask!!#thank you for reading <3

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afni-fics · 4 years ago

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In Hindsight: Chapter 7: In the Present... Lie in Ruins

In Hindsight: Chapter 7: In the Present... Lie in Ruins by C_R_Scott Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tim Drake/Tam Fox, Jack Drake/Janet Drake, Janet Drake & Tim Drake, Jack Drake & Tim Drake, Lucius Fox/Tanya Fox, Tim Drake & Tam Fox Characters: Tim Drake, Tam Fox, Janet Drake, Jack Drake, Lucius Fox, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth Additional Tags: Tim Drake-centric, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Family Feels, Childhood Friends, Childhood Trauma, Childhood Memories, Childhood Sweethearts, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Good Parent Janet Drake, Bad Parent Jack Drake, no beta we die like robins, Bruce Wayne Tries to Be a Good Parent

Previous Chapter | Masterlist | Next Chapter

Story Summary: What if Tim Drake was originally raised by his maternal grandmother for the first eight years of his life due to "circumstances" involving his biological parents? What if Tim's grandmother was also the next door neighbor and occasional sitter for Lucius Fox's family?

Chapter Summary: Jack Drake had lied to Tim about his grandmother's death. However, Jack is also dead himself. Tim attempts to cope with the aftermath of learning the truth of what his father had done. Fortunately, he is not alone.

...

"Jack lied."

Lucius's words were stuck in Bruce's head as Alfred drove him into Gotham City from the Manor. They kept repeating themselves over and over and over again. After about ten minutes of focused brooding, Bruce finally voiced the question he knew he couldn't run away from.

"How did I miss this?"

From the driver's seat, Alfred glanced at Bruce via the rear-view mirror. "You had no way of knowing."

"I should have known."

"How?" Alfred's brow furrowed. "Tim didn't even know? His fa--" The old man choked on the word with a grimace, as if he'd bitten into a piece of bitter melon. He huffed irritably before continuing. "--Jack lied to him for years, and gave none of us any reason to suspect anything coming out of his mouth was false."

Bruce shook his head as he pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts before selecting one. After three rings, the line finally connected.

"You do know it's not even noon, right?" Barbara Gordon grumbled. "What could you possibly want at this ungodly time of the morning?"

"It's about Tim."

There was moment of pause. When Barbara spoke, drowsiness had been replaced with concern in her tone. "What's wrong? Is he alright? Is he having a delayed reaction to the new Fear Toxin?"

Bruce hesitated before answering, making a quick mental note to double check Tim's bloodwork as soon as he could. If Tim was suffering a delayed Fear Toxin reaction on top of everything else, that could further complicate his son's compromised emotional state.

"It's not about the Fear Toxin, though that could be exacerbating the situation in the background," Bruce said finally. "I need you to do some digging into Tim's family history."

"You're asking me to investigate Tim? Why? What's going on?"

"Tim was never an orphan."

"WHAT?!"

"We just discovered today he has a living maternal grandmother," Bruce explained. "But for whatever reason Jack Drake lied to Tim and his mother eight years ago and told them both she was dead. From what I've been told, his grandmother was supposed to have had full custody of him back then. Then she got hospitalized. When she was finally well enough to be released, Jack had managed to sever all ties between her and Tim."

"Jesus Christ," Barbara breathed out softly. "Does Tim kno-- Never mind, of course he knows otherwise you wouldn't be asking me to do the investigating. Is he with you now?"

"I'm going to his place in the city with Alfred to check on him. Tracker says he's stationary at the Nest."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Do a deep dive into the history between Tim's parents and his grandmother. Her name is Susan Klein. We need to learn what exactly triggered the original custody arrangement, as well as how Jack managed to take custody away from Susan and hide the fact that she was alive from both Tim and his mother. I also want to know why the hell the courts and CPS didn't get involved back then to return Tim to his grandmother, especially after Jack died."

"You also want to find the rest of Jack's skeletons," Barbara inferred. "Because if Jack lied about something this big to his own son--"

"--What else did he lie about?--"

"--And how much damage could this do to Tim if it's brought to light?" Bruce could hear Barbara indulge in a weary sigh. "Holy shit... Ok... Ok... Ok... Give me an hour to get a shower, coffee, and food. Then I'll start digging. This is all cold case kinda stuff, so it's not going anywhere. Keep me posted if you pick up any new leads from Tim."

"Thanks Barbara."

"Oh, by the way... Who else knows about this?"

"Alfred, Lucius, and Tam."

"Alright. I'll keep this on the down low from the rest of the fam until you can check on Tim. Take care of him, Bruce."

"I will."

With the call ended, Bruce leaned back and closed his eyes. What was he going to find when they finally got the Nest? He didn't have to wait long. About ten minutes later, Bruce and Alfred found themselves being led through Tim's home by a deeply concerned Tamara Fox.

...

Three months and twenty-eight days.

That's how long it took for Tim to travel around the US and the world, investigate multiple archaeological sites, survive the Council of Spiders, cripple the League of Assassins, save the girl, and return home with proof of his adopted father being alive. So much mileage, blood, and lives lost had gone into the journey to recover Bruce Wayne from the time stream Darkseid had sent him into.

Nineteen minutes and thirty-nine seconds.

That's all the time it took for Tim to find evidence his grandmother was alive and well and still living in the same house she always had for the past fifty years. He didn't have to leave Gotham. He didn't even have to leave his workstation. All the information was at his fingertips online. All the evidence pointed at the conclusion that his grandmother (and the truth) had always been just a few keystrokes away.

But that couldn't be right. If that was right, that meant his father lied to him and his mother. Jack Drake wouldn't have done that. So it had to be wrong. Tim just couldn't figure out how the evidence was wrong.

"Recognized: Tamara Fox. Alpha-Zero-Two. Entrance: Garage."

"Recognized: Verified Guest. Alpha-Zero-Two-Dash-Zero-One. Entrance: Garage."

"Recognized: Verified Guest. Alpha-Zero-Two-Dash-Zero-Two. Entrance: Garage."

The voice of Tim's AI security matrix echoed through the cavernous space of Tim's brand new "Nest", the hidden vigilante base of operations tucked behind his renovated theater home. The young man barely acknowledged the announcements, though, as he sat motionless at his workstation with his elbows propped up on the desk and his face buried in his hands. Slowly, his hands shifted, sliding down his face over closed eyes to linger over his nose and mouth. Tim drew in a breath through his nose and tried to release it slowly through his mouth. Despite his attempt at control, his breath shuddered audibly as he exhaled. Desperately, he squeezed his eyes shut tighter and shifted his hands to press against them. The adjustment exposed his mouth pressed into a grim, trembling line as he struggled to keep any sound from escaping.

Despite his best efforts, a thin trickle of moisture escaped his hands and coursed down his cheek.

Tim heard the hidden door that connected the Nest to his living room slide open, and blindly identified the footsteps of three people walking into his inner sanctum. One of them he was certain was Tam, and he had his suspicions about the other two.

However, in order to confirm them, he would have had to remove his hands and open his eyes...

...and he was not ready to do that just yet.

...

The moment Bruce laid eyes on Tim, he felt his heart ache at the sight before him. There was his son, sitting alone at his workstation, and everything in his body language was silently crying out with shock and dismay.

For a brief few seconds, Bruce froze. His mind was a panicked jumble. What could he do?! What could he say?! How was he going to fix this?!

Then Tim slowly lifted his head from his hands, and he when he looked over at Bruce, the older man's breath got stuck in his throat. His normally confident and unwavering teenager looked so dazed and hurt and utterly lost.

"B?"

A single letter, barely whispered, partly a question, but mostly a plea, was all it took. Bruce's feet were no longer rooted to the floor, and he quickly closed the distance between himself and his son, because his boy had called out to him.

Tim rose to his feet as he saw Bruce approach, and he let himself be wrapped up in his adopted father's arms. Bruce could feel Tim lean into him, could feel the anxious tension in every muscle in his son's back as the boy buried his face into his chest.

"I'm here, Tim," Bruce murmured as soothingly as he could as he stroked Tim's hair. "It's going to be ok."

"I... I don't know what I'm doing wrong," Tim whispered mournfully.

"Wrong?"

"Dad said she died. He wouldn't have lied about that. He couldn't have." Unconsciously, Tim's hand fisted into Bruce's shirt, as if he were hanging on for dear life. "But Lucius says she's alive... Been alive this entire time. And the evidence..."

As more words spilled out from his boy's mouth, Bruce heart broke at the brittle desperation in Tim's voice.

"I have to be missing something. I'm doing something wrong. I'm making a mistake somewhere and I don't know what it is." Tim drew in a shuddering breath. "Or maybe it's the Fear Toxin. An after effect? Maybe it's making me hallucinate? Mis-hear... Misinterpret things?" He turned his head from Bruce's chest and gazed uneasily at the workstation monitors. "Maybe I'm just seeing things? Maybe I'm just losing my mind?"

The fact that Tim's voice took on a hopeful edge at the thought of going crazy sent a stab of deep concern through Bruce. A quick glance at the workstation monitors showed him all the evidence Tim had dug up on his own since leaving Wayne Tower. A lump rose to his throat. When he spoke, he could barely force his own voice above a hoarse whisper.

"You're not hallucinating, Tim. I... I can see the evidence myself."

Tim's eyes widened at the screens, then he shut them tightly before shaking his head. "No... No no no no no..."

"Mr. Wayne?"

Bruce glanced over to Tamara, who looked close to tears herself, but was managing to just barely hold herself together. She had one arm wrapped around herself and the other held her cell phone. He could see Lucius's name on the screen as the current active call.

"Yes?"

Tam swallowed hard before answering. "My dad's on the line. I told him we found Tim. He... He's with Nana... Tim's grandma... right now."

Bruce felt Tim freeze in his arms. He felt his own heart stutter as well.

"She... would like to speak with Tim, if he's able. She understands though if he's too overwhelmed right now."

Tim turned his gaze to Tam's phone, his red-rimmed blue eyes wide and warring between longing and dread.

Bruce stroked Tim's back. "You... don't have to if you don't want to," he murmured. "We can wait until you feel better... Until we figure things out on this side."

For several seconds, there was nothing but tense silence in the air. Bruce could practically see the gears turning and grinding in Tim's mind. He could see the war play out on his son's face as he struggled to make a decision. Then, finally, Tim uneasily reached out and offered an open hand to Tam.

Tam nodded and raised the phone to her own ear first. "I'm handing my phone to Tim now." Then, she carefully gave Tim the cell, watching as he wrapped his fingers about the edges of the device and raised it to his own ear.

"H-Hello?"

Though he was still holding Tim closely, Bruce wasn't close enough to hear much of other end of the call. He could tell it was a woman's voice, but couldn't make out most of the words. But he could see his son. He watched, helpless, as after a moment Tim's eyes filled immediately with tears and spilled over onto his cheeks. One short anguished sob escaped him before he used his other hand to clamp his mouth shut. Though it stifled the sounds, Bruce could still see and feel the sobs wracking his boy's entire frame.

As Bruce held him tighter, he could hear the tone of the woman's voice shift to something so soothing and maternal that his own heart ached along with his son's. It had the desired effect of calming Tim enough so that the could finally find his voice once more.

"I love you, too, Nana," he whimpered softly. Then, he stretched out his hand and gave the phone back to Tam, who was in tears herself as she took it back.

Once his hands were free and the phone was pressed again to Tam's ear as she spoke with her father, Tim crumpled to the floor as he burst into tears once more, this time without restraint. Bruce followed him down to control his fall and let his son cried brokenheartedly against him.

"He lied," Tim keened between sobs. "He lied... He lied... He lied..."

Tears coursed down Bruce's face as he watched his son come apart at the seams. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Alfred gazing at him with love, sorrow, and tear-filled eyes as well. Though long dead, Jack Drake had broken their beloved boy's heart, and they would be damned if they didn't do their best to put the pieces back together again and make things right for everyone involved.

...

Author's Notes:

Author's Note: This was a challenging chapter to write. I hope I did Tim's breakdown justice. Things will, hopefully, start looking up for him from this point onward for a bit.

As for the length of time I put down as Tim's search for Bruce during the origin Red Robin run, this was just a wild guess on my part. In the comics, there was a map on a page in the first issue showing a map with pins on where he had previously investigated. Based on that, I estimated he had been travelling nonstop for at least several months before being intercepted by Ra's and getting dragged into the League and Council drama along with Tam.

#tim drake#tam fox#tim/tam#red robin#fanfiction#wip#rr: in hindsight#batfam#batfamily#lucius fox#bruce wayne

#rr: in hindsight #tim drake #tam fox #tim/tam #red robin #fanfiction #wip #bruce wayne #alfred pennyworth #batfamily #batfam

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aye-write · 4 years ago

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Summary: Research student Isla Reid has been fascinated with the legend of the Kildonian Chessmen - a trio of mythical Pokemon rumoured to have lived centuries ago on the remote region of Kildo - for as long as she can remember. So, when a museum exhibit on the Chessmen is set to open in Kildo’s Hydrogate City, coinciding with her independent research project, she packs herself and her trusty partner Furret onto the long ferry journey bound for this new region.

However, when she arrives in Kildo, thoughts of her research, new friends, and an entire Pokedex’s worth of new Pokemon, are quickly dashed. Kildo is a troubled place, beset by natural disasters and fierce rivalries among its people. Isla suddenly finds herself at the centre of a centuries-old plot to invoke the wrath of the Chessmen, and is set on a race against time to stop them, before it spells destruction for the entire region.

Other Links: Read it on Ao3!

Tags: OC Pokemon journey, OC region, Fakemon region, bisexual main character, found family, ace main character.

If you are not interested in these posts, especially as I know Pokemon journeyfic is fairly niche, please blacklist the tag #Checkmate. Most of the story will be put under a Readmore anyway!

Author’s Note: Hi everyone! This is just a quick author's note today! Thanks to everyone who has read and commented! I hope you enjoy another chonk of a chapter and that the starters' introduction went okay! There were a LOT of Pokedex entries this week, so I won't be including them all in the author's note this time, but you can head over to our tumblr @kildo-pokedex to see them in full! See you in two weeks, everyone!

*****

Chapter Four

Things moved fast that night. Too fast. Morning dawned, dappling the sky with tangerine oranges and cotton candy pinks, and Isla soon found herself packed and standing on the doorstep of the cottage she’d almost come to think of as home.

Rhona fussed over Skye’s layers and blankets for so long that Isla thought they’d never get away. Even Blair started to look nervous, casting pointed glances first at his watch and then at his mother. It would be a long walk, he said loudly, at least five hours of walking, and they needed to get on. Finally Rhona got the hint and passed over a mammoth bag of sandwiches, juice, and crisps – enough to sustain an army for about a week – and both parents said their goodbyes. Rhona’s eyes were wet with tears when she broke her hug with her daughter.

Isla moved forward, meaning just to offer thanks, but before she could open her mouth, Rhona swept her into a rib-crunching hug.

“Now you be careful out there, chick,” Rhona said, her breath tickling the whorls of Isla’s ear. “You always have a home here with us, alright? Don’t you dare be a stranger. I expect to see you again here before you go back to Johto, you hear me?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Isla said, her voice thick.

Kenneth shook her hand next, his huge fingers easily engulfing hers. He had a firm grip, yet surprisingly soft hands, and when Isla drew back, she found he’d slipped her two crisp twenty pokedollar notes.

“Kenneth, thank you, but I can’t take—”

“You take care of yourself,” he said firmly.

Isla decided not to argue. Especially when it was the most the giant man had ever said to her in one go before.

Blair took his mother’s hug with an embarrassed grimace, nodding along to a laundry list of instructions she hurled his way. Make sure you take frequent breaks. Don’t let Skye go wandering on her own. Make sure you feed a Clatty if you see one, it’s good luck. Don’t dare go any further than Aberdrip. Eventually, Kenneth clamped his hand on Rhona’s shoulder, and she stopped.

“I suppose you best be going, eh?” she said, forcing a quivering smile. “Before it gets too late on. Have fun, darlings. Call me when you get there. Be safe.”

“Thanks for everything, Rhona,” Isla said, her voice catching. She had to turn around to shield her face from view.

Blair, who had been battling to fit Rhona’s supplies into their travelling bag, grunted with satisfaction as he finally got the zip up, leaving the bag bulging like an overripe balloon. He felt around at his waist, unhooked a Pokeball, and tossed it over the gate.

“Coastrot, come out!”

Isla let out a breath as the ball burst open and she came face to face with Blair’s Pokemon. Easily reaching Blair’s shoulders, it had a long, lithe body with a clipped coat the colour of the ocean under the morning sky. Even when it stayed still, its mane and tail rippled like plumes of gentle flowing water. It was a stunning Pokemon – right down to its dark, inquisitive eyes and glistening hooves – but there was something unusual about it that Isla couldn’t quite put her finger on. As she stared, Coastrot’s body seemed to blur, wavering in front of her like a picture on a TV with a dodgy signal.

Blair saw her staring. “Touch him,” he suggested.

Isla frowned, uncertain. Under Blair’s watchful eye, she reached out to touch this new Pokemon, only for her hand to slip straight through its body, as easily as if she had just put her hand through a hologram. She whipped her hand away like she’d just been shocked. The Pokemon’s body turned solid again the moment Blair touched it to string up one of the bags.

Isla consulted her Pokedex. “Coastrot, the Mirage Pokemon. Its translucent body refracts light, and it will often appear as though it is surrounded by rainbows. If it doesn’t trust someone, they will not be able to touch it. This is seen as an unlucky omen by some.”

“Amazing,” she said. “So it only lets people it trusts touch it?”

“That’s right,” Blair nodded. “Coastrot is actually the evolved form of one of the Kildo starters. He was my starter, so he’s been in the family a long time, but it still wasn’t easy for him to trust all of us. He lets me touch him, of course, and Skye, and sometimes Dad, but Mum is still a tricky case. Since he’s only just met you, it may take him a while to warm up.”

“That’s okay,” Isla held her hand out for the Pokemon to sniff. Its nose passed straight through her hand, a sensation rather like she’d plunged her hand into a bucket of ice-cold water. “I’m sure we’ll get along fine.”

Blair clapped on Coastrot’s haunches, signalling everything was secured. He called for Skye and helped boost her up, Isla holding her breath as she entertained a vision of Skye sinking right through the Pokemon’s ethereal back. Luckily, Coastrot remained solid and strong, allowing Skye to settle herself.

“Hold onto his mane, there,” Blair fussed. “No, not there. That’s too tight. Just there, look.”

Skye made several wide-eyed glances over the Pokémon’s massive haunches as Blair made the final checks. Isla offered her a smile.

“I take it that you won’t be going for Coastrot’s evolution for your first Pokemon, then?” she whispered.

Skye shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. “Definitely not.”

As she waited, a breath of wind lifted the hair from Isla’s forehead, already moist with sweat from the heat of the beating sun. She’d dressed light, in a loose, billowing top two sizes up from her normal, and a pair of comfortable jogging trousers, but she still worried about the journey. The bag slung on her shoulders didn’t feel heavy now, but walking would leaden it. She’d sprayed most of a bottle of antiperspirant on herself before setting out, but she still had doubts about its efficiency. She could only hope they would take it slow and she wouldn’t embarrass herself.

“That’s us,” Blair announced. “We’re ready to go.”

And with one final look back at the Whispering Pines Croft, they set off.

Having left the confines of the family croft, Blair switched into serious mode. He had done some travelling when he was younger, he explained as they walked, enough to know the basics, and he’d made the journey between Aberdrip and Port Glen enough times to pick out the best route to accommodate Coastrot. Their chosen path along Route 1 started out as a stretch of delightfully flat ground, buffeted by a strong, salt-smelling, easterly wind. After an hour, the flat paths became bumpy and wild, grass rising as high as their knees, the tips of trees bordering the horizon.

Blair told them stories as they walked, a welcome distraction for the pain needling through Isla’s legs. He brought them to a stop at the peak of a hill to point out Loch Culla in the distance, a shimmering body of water neatly fringed with trees. A place claimed to be the home of an entire family of shiny Kildonian Lapras.

Skye’s shriek of excitement at this news startled Coastrot, and Blair had to dart to her rescue in case she was catapulted off. She wasn’t fazed. She still insisted on making the detour so they could go hunting for one. Blair laughed. The loch was a protected area for that exact purpose, he explained, and catching Pokemon wasn’t allowed there.

“But we can manage a picnic nearby,” Blair added when Skye’s face fell. “Come on, let’s go.”

Back to walking it was. Isla forced herself back to her feet. To give Blair his dues, he factored in plenty of breaks, at every rest stop or every half an hour, whichever came first. He said he wanted Coastrot to get plenty of rest, as he wasn’t used to carrying weight over long distances. Isla wasn’t sure how true that was, but she was grateful all the same. If Blair and Skye saw her flushed face, sweat patches, and occasional gasps for breath, they were very kind and didn’t draw attention to it.

As promised, they unpacked a picnic at the bank of Loch Culla and shared out sandwiches, fruit, and flavoured waters. Sitting in the shade, listening to the water lapping against the bank, and sipping their drinks fresh from the cool bag, Isla felt totally at peace, despite the numbing aches sprouting in the back of her calves. Blair recalled Coastrot for a proper rest, but Isla released Soba and Wingull to stretch their legs and wings. To keep Wingull amused, but more to stop him stealing, she lobbed his food into the air, sending him swooping and diving over the loch and into the deep grass in pursuit.

Skye didn’t eat much, her eyes trained on the still loch water. When Blair nudged her back to reality, she folded her arms and said, “Blair, I’m looking for Lapras. Leave me alone.”

Isla saw him roll his eyes, but when he spoke to his sister, his tone was nothing but gentle and respectful. “You won’t see them, Skye. It’s massively rare to see a Kildonian Lapras out in the open. They live pretty much entirely underwater. Proper deep down.”

Isla looked up from her sandwich. “Do they? They don’t in Johto.”

“Yep. Kildonian ones are different types too. Ours are Ghost and Dragon.”

“Water and Ice for us.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty different, isn’t it? I think the mainland variant travel a lot, but you can pretty much trace all Kildonian Lapras to just one or two lochs here. They don’t move around a lot. Hence why the area is protected.”

“It doesn’t look protected?” Isla said, looking around. There wasn’t a stitch of modern technology to be seen. No buildings. No cameras. Heck, there didn’t even seem to be any other people around other than just them. “There’s nothing here.”

“Doesn’t need to be. See that sign?” Blair pointed out a sign nailed to a nearby tree. A bold, crimson X was splayed across a black and white image of a Pokeball. “That sign lets us know that there’s Anti-Pokeball Interference here. API for short.” When he saw Isla’s blank face, he frowned. “I don’t know exactly how it works, but basically, Dad said that it transmits some sort of signal that humans and Pokemon can’t hear, but it scrambles the capture mechanism on all Pokeballs. Makes them nothing more than fancy paperweights.”

“We certainly don’t have that in Johto.”

“It’s pretty new. Just come into fashion over the last year. Lot of folks don’t like it, though. I think they had protests out in Tideburgh. They say it violates our rights to catch Pokemon and that it’s going to lead to overpopulation. If you ask me, it’s a load of Tauros shi— uh, nonsense,” he corrected himself when Skye turned her head.

They lapsed into silence, Isla pretending to be fascinated with her sandwich crusts. They’d gone dry and hard in the sun, and she nibbled at them ineffectively. Wingull, amazingly, had eaten its fill and had nestled with his head (mostly) under one stubby wing. Soba, who had been luxuriating in the sun, had fallen asleep curled around a bottle of lemonade. Blair lay back in the grass, his eyes shut, making occasional contented noises. Skye was scribbling something in a notebook patterned with Slugma.

“We’ll head off soon,” Blair yawned. “I just want to rest my eyes for a few minutes.”

The soft noise of snoring drifted over the wind moments later. Isla had to resist the urge to join him. Sitting down had been fatal. Now her eyes felt as heavy as her legs and the thought of getting up again made tiredness sink into the very pit of her. She could shut her eyes for a few minutes, she reasoned. Just a few minutes. Just a few—

“Isla!” a voice cut through her thoughts. “Isla! Isla, look!”

Isla had to force open her eyes, gummed together like chewy toffee. Skye was on her feet, pointing at the nearby undergrowth.

“What’s goin—”

“Shush!” Skye hissed. “Just look!”

In amongst the green, leafy fronds was a flash of something dull and brown. It emerged from the grass like a Furret in miniature. It had a long, snake-like body, the colour of dark chocolate, and a cream underbelly. Its sharp, inquisitive nose twitched, and its tail swished like an over-eager feather duster.

“What is that?” Isla gasped, pulling her Pokedex out.

“It’s a Mudstel!” Skye said, just as Isla’s Pokedex chirped “Mudstel, the Mud Ferret Pokemon. Curious, but shy, Mudstel rely on their stealth and environment when hunting. They blend in well among trees and bushes, but if spotted, will quickly burrow underground to escape.”

“Gosh, it must be hungry if it’s come right out in the open!” Skye breathed out. “Can we try feeding it?”

“Yeah, if you like. Try it with the crusts there.”

Skye offered the Mudstel some of the uneaten crusts. The Pokemon held back, its nose twitching, eyes unblinking. Skye stretched her hand out further.

“Wait, Skye. Stay as still as you can,” Isla advised, not even daring to breathe too loudly in case she startled it. Skye’s wavering arm came to a stop. “That’s it. Let it come to you.”

After a few moments, the Mudstel stretched out its long, ribbon-like body. Skye looked like she was about to burst from excitement, but somehow, managed to stay still. Isla caught a glimpse of sharp white teeth as Mudstel opened its mouth and snatched the crusts from Skye’s hand. It didn’t pause to eat them, just turned on its heels, and dove back into the undergrowth.

They waited, but Mudstel didn’t come back out.

Skye looked crestfallen as the grass went still. “Bread crusts aren’t all that nutritious,” she said mournfully. “I wish it had stayed and I could have given it some Pokemon food. I think we even have some Pokemon Rock. That would have been even better for it.”

Isla made a sympathetic noise. “Maybe we can leave some pellets for it when we pack up and leave?”

“Maybe. But I wish I could have caught it. I don’t want it to end up starving. Mudstel wouldn’t come out and take food from humans if it could help it.”

“Some Pokemon are just opportunistic, Skye. He probably has plenty of chances to get food and then saw us and thought “Oh yes, a free lunch!” Pokemon are clever. They can take care of themselves.”

“I suppose.”

Isla slung an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Try not to worry,” she said. “We’ll be in Aberdrip soon and you’ll have your very own Pokemon before you know it.”

“I know,” Skye said. “I just… wish I could make friends with all of them. I don’t want any of them to suffer.”

“Then I think that means you’ll be a good trainer.”

Skye smiled. Isla’s heart skipped a little. Could this really be the first time that she had ever seen the younger girl smile?

A sudden kerfuffle sent them both looking over Blair, who snorted and pushed himself upright, making a strange gulping noise. “I wasn’t asleep! I wasn’t… sleeping?” He looked blearily across at Skye and Isla. “Was I sleeping?”

They didn’t answer. Instead, the noise of their laughter echoed across the loch like water tinkling from a waterfall.

They had stopped for another break on Route 3, a densely wooded path littered with fallen leaves and fresh with the smell of moss, when Blair got a text through on his phone.

Immediately, he was dialling a number, face twisted, and one hand covering his ear to block out the shrill shriek of the local Caperchick. A Caperchick, as Isla had found out was another of Kildo’s resident bird Pokemon. Pretty much helpless as babies, they were only able to eat, sleep, and call for help from others in their family group. Isla had hoped to see one, but Blair dissuaded her, explaining their later evolutions were territorial and aggressive. Most wouldn’t take kindly to humans on their turf.

It still didn’t stop her, or Skye, from hoping. Skye got up to wander four times while Blair stepped away to speak on the phone, poking at the bases of trees and among tall grasses. Or maybe she was just doing it to fill the time. Whatever conversation Blair was having, it was taking a lot of it.

When Blair did eventually return, his face was pale. “That was Mum on the phone.”

Isla’s instant thought was Nana Morag. “Is everything okay?”

“Kind of. She’s just back from the hospital. Nana Morag is doing better, they think she’ll be alright to come home soon as long as she gets plenty of bed rest.”

“Did they find out what it was that made her ill?”

“They’re still waiting on some test results,” Blair said, worry creasing his eyebrows into one long caterpillar. “She said she’ll phone me as soon as they hear. Now, the other thing. Mum said she had a voicemail waiting for her when she got out of the hospital. It was one of Professor Spruce’s aides.”

Skye stopped what she was doing, pricking her head up.

“There was some problem with the breeders they use to supply the new trainers and they don’t have enough to supply everyone who wanted one.”

Skye looked ready to burst into tears. Blair saw this and quickly assured, “Don’t panic, Skye. They’ve just moved it to a booking system instead to try and get as many folks sorted as possible today. Mum gave me the number and I called the aide. You’re still getting your Pokemon – as long as we get there in time.”

Skye visibly relaxed but Isla felt like something had severed her at the chest. “When’s Skye’s slot?”

“2pm. It was the only one I could get. All the others were filled.

Isla looked at the time on her phone. It was already ten to one.

“Yeah,” Blair said, as Isla caught his eye. “We need to hurry.”

Isla hoped that adrenaline would see them through. That they could power on the remaining couple of miles without feeling the pain or the tiredness, subsisting only on the rush of purpose to get there. But it was hell. Pure hell. As they half walked, half jogged along unsteady ground, the air dense and muggy, the heat of the sun dripped down their backs.

I can’t let Skye down, Isla told herself as she dragged her aching limbs over the nobbled hump of yet another hillock. I’ll never forgive myself if I let her down.

Once, when the shooting pain of a stitch left her doubled over, she told Blair and Skye to go on without her. But she didn’t even get to finish her sentence before Blair cut in with “Absolutely not. We’re going together,” and that was the end of it.

As it ticked closer and closer, the clouds receded, and the sun intensified. The air remained stubbornly heavy and humid. Finally, they were over another hill and Aberdrip loomed in the distance, a monochrome city with silver buildings reaching up like metallic petals. They didn’t stop to take in much else. Feet pounding the concrete, each step sending pinpricks of pain up Isla’s legs, Blair hailed a taxi. In one confusing bundle of recalled Pokemon, sorting of bags, and too many legs in one small space, they clambered in. Within minutes, they were speeding along the blurred roads, the streets like smears of running ink.

Professor Spruce’s lab sat right at the western outskirts of Aberdrip in a plot of land closed off by wrought iron gates. The taxi driver dropped them off at the bottom, and after buzzing through to the office, they were on their way up the vicious uphill path to Professor Spruce’s lab.

Stumbling through the front door, trembling with exertion, Isla checked her phone. Three minutes to two. They’d made it.

A concerned looking aide lead them through a maze of breezeblocked hallways. Skye stuck so close to Blair that they practically became one person. The aide opened a door at the end of a particularly long corridor, and they emerged into a room groaning with workbenches and strange equipment that wouldn’t have looked amiss in an old sci-fi film. The room was wonderfully chilled, the overhead fans pumping in swathes of cool air.

Blair and Skye gave the aide their names, Blair signed a proffered sheet, and then they were shepherded through into an adjoining room. As they stepped through, Isla felt the eyes of a dozen people land on her.

“Ah, Skye McLeod, is it?” came a voice from ahead of them. “Excellent. I was starting to worry you weren’t coming.”

Skye tensed next to Isla as the woman who had spoken – Isla assumed this was Professor Spruce – beckoned them forward. She was small, rounded, with greying hair slung into a messy bun. Her eyes were sharp, glinting like the sheen of ice over a frozen puddle. Easily a foot shorter than everyone else in the room, she still commanded everyone’s attention.

With a wave of her hand, Professor Spruce separated Skye and the two other young trainers – one girl and one boy – from their respective guardians. Isla collapsed gratefully into a nearby chair. Blair was rigid in his own seat as Professor Spruce took the new trainers through the standard “First Pokemon” spiel. It was a comforting lecture, so much so that mixed with the relief they had made it in time, Isla soon felt her eyelids drooping.

Then, voices surged.

“I want to go first!”

“No, I’m going first!”

“Enough!” Professor Spruce barked, her voice tight. “Being a Pokemon trainer isn’t about who goes first. It’s not even about getting exactly what you want. If you go into this life expecting to get what you want all the time, you are setting yourself up for failure Pokemon are as unique and individual as each one of you. A “weak” Pokemon can become strong from the right training and support. On your journey as trainers, I encourage you to open your hearts and minds. Embrace all that this region has to offer you. Take a chance on people – and Pokemon – you might not expect to. They might just surprise you. Now, young lady…” Professor Spruce’s eyes fixed on Skye, who had been sitting quietly the whole way through. “Why don’t you come up and pick your partner?”

Frozen under the expectant gaze, Skye didn’t move. The other two new trainers muttered as the silence grew. The faces of the parents clouded. Still Skye didn’t move. Or perhaps she couldn’t.

Isla pushed herself out of her chair. Despite the angry murmurings from the other guardians, she threaded herself in next to her. “Skye, do you want to go up first?” she asked.

Skye nodded.

“Would you like me to go up with you? Or maybe Blair?”

She shook her head, but no words came out.

“Just take your time. I know it’s a bit scary, but you can do it.”

With the encouragement, Skye faced the three Pokeballs next to Professor Spruce. Each one was furnished with a plaque listing information about the Pokemon inside. Isla read them over, trying to absorb the information quickly, in case she was asked to sit back down. One Grass starter, one Fire, one Water. Exactly the same as Johto.

Coozy, Lv 5

Gender: Male

The Little Cow Pokemon

Good natured and docile, this Coozy is an excellent choice for those who enjoy a slow and steady pace in life. Be careful not to let him get lazy and complacent!

Bleater, Lv 5

Gender: Male

The Nightlight Pokemon

Aloof yet curious, this Bleater will be a loyal companion to any trainer willing to take the time to get to know him. Be warned, Bleater are prone to dependency on their trainers later in life.

Coltide, Lv5

Gender: Male

The Water Horse Pokemon

Spirited and independent, this Coltide can be a handful without firm guidance in the beginning. However, you will rarely find a more dedicated Pokemon out there!

Curiosity burned at the back of Isla’s head, but now wouldn’t be the right time to interrupt everything by checking. For now, she turned back to the chairs and waited as Skye made her final decision.

“This one.” Skye eventually said. “I would like this one, please.”

“Excellent choice,” Professor Spruce said kindly. “Why don’t you take your, uh… guardians towards the back and fill out the paperwork? The aide will have your license waiting for you.”

“You go,” Isla motioned to Blair. “I’ll wait here.”

While Skye was away dealing with her paperwork, Isla watched the two remaining trainers making their picks. Compared to Skye, there was no hesitation. The boy beelined immediately for Coltide, but the other girl seemed perfectly happy to be left with Coozy. Which, of course, meant that Skye had chosen Bleater.

One by one, the families left for the other room, and Isla had the chance to look closer at the three Kildo starters. She painstakingly punched the names – or her best memory of them – into the Pokedex and clicked Image Search.

Coozy, she decided, would have been her choice. It was almost painfully cute; small, and quadrupedal, covered in a thick coat of moss green fur, a pale pink nose, and dark inquisitive eyes. Her arms ached to hug it.

Now, Bleater was cute too, she thought. It reminded her of a favourite Johto Pokemon – a Mareep – just smaller. Its wool was coarse and tightly packed against the body, in a vivid orange, the colour of flame. Its short, stubby legs and the small nubs of horns were a much darker orange, a striking contrast to the rest of its body.

The final one, Isla could figure out on her own. An aqua blue body, a mane and tale reminiscent of flowing water, black hooves polished like obsidian, and dark, beguiling eyes. Coltide, the previous evolution of Blair’s Coastrot.

“You seem very interested in the starters, young lady,” Professor Spruce’s voice cut through Isla’s thoughts, making her jump. “Not local?”

“How could you tell?” Isla laughed nervously.

“I’ve been around the block too many times,” Professor Spruce said. “Kanto?”

“No, Johto. My accent is a bit softer though, so I get why people mix them up.”

“Johto, eh? That’s a long trip. What brings you here?”

“Visiting family. And some research into the Kildonian Chessmen.”

Professor Spruce’s eyes widened. “How interesting.”

A perfect opportunity had fallen right into her lap. She would be stupid not to take advantage of it now. “Professor, do you know anything about them?” she asked. “Or the Vitalities? Anything you could tell me?”

“Like what?”

“Like where they could be found?”

Professor Spruce’s eyebrow arched. “Well, no-one really knows where the Chessmen are now. Recent reports claim they settled in remote places – like islands far away from the mainland or underground. But that’s all just theories. There hasn’t been a confirmed sighting in over a century. But the Vitalities, on the other hand…”

Isla leant forward, closing the space between them.

Professor Spruce seemed to think better of what she was about to say and let out a sigh. “You have to understand something first. The Vitalities are a polarising bunch. Much of my generation, us old folks, even some of the more… naïve younger people believe the Vitalities are responsible for the natural disasters around Kildo.”

This wasn’t news to Isla, but still she pressed “Why?”

“The Vitalities brought many gifts to humans. Some were used wisely. Others weren’t. One of the most enduring theories is that the Chessmen banished and trapped the Vitalities to four remote corners of Kildo to prevent them intervening in humans’ natural progress. There’s an argument to be made that the natural disasters are the Vitalities fighting back, I suppose rebelling against their banishment.”

“So, no-one knows where they are? Or the Chessmen?”

Professor Spruce shook her head. “You may have noticed that Kildo is a region on a precipice. Pokemon journeys, gym circuits, the battling leagues, these are all very new to us. And they’ve become very popular very quickly. Up until about twenty years ago, most people in Kildo only used Pokemon to help them work the land, to till crops, things like that. It was like the whole region carried this collective memory, a shared fear of what happened when technology became too great a force.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

“Yes. But that fear has diluted. It’s been lost among much of the new generation. Things have changed. We’ve made amazing technological advances since then, eclipsed even some of the other regions that have been doing this for much longer. I’m sure you’ve heard about our API technology and Ability Suppressors and Experience Boosters, all that sort of thing.” Isla hadn’t, but she didn’t want to stop her and ask. Lots of people think it’s amazing. Lots more people are scared. Scared that if the Chessmen were to wake again, and were to see the way we have advanced, they would do exactly what they did the last time they awoke.”

The phrase festering in Isla’s mouth felt ridiculous. Laughable. But something compelled her to say it anyway.

“That they would destroy the whole region?”

Professor Spruce’s piercing grey eyes met Isla’s.

“Exactly.”

#checkmate #checkmate fanfiction #pokemon fanfiction #fakemon #fakemon fanfiction #fakemon region

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godofplumsandthunder · 4 years ago

Text

Our First I Do

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes

Warning: None, if you feel something needs a tag please DM me

A/N: EEEP! It’s done! The final chapter and post 1 of 2 for today’s Week of love! I’ve loved our two idiots journey and Peter learning all about his guncles. I hope you love this chapter as much as I did while writing it! Hope y��all had a fun and safe Valentine’s day!

For the first time, Peter is absolutely silent. No quick comments or funny quips. He’s dead silent as he just stares at his hands. He wanted angst, and he got it. The constant and persistent fear that Bucky and Steve experienced in the ‘30s is as big a part of their love story, as the dates and romantic moments. And sometimes, even Steve and Bucky forget those parts too. It’s easy living in a time where they can be together to forget how bad things really were back then. That the past tends to be romanticized. Still, they didn’t expect Peter to just… turn off.

Letting go of Bucky, Steve scooches over closer to Peter.

“Hey, Petey, you doing okay?”

Peter nods, still looking down, “yeah, I just… Like I’m with MJ right now, but I do have feelings and crushes about some of the guys in my grade. And well, if I was born at the wrong time, I’d have to hide that part of me! I- how did you do it? I wouldn’t have been able to do it. Hide myself and always have to be acting… I…”

Steve pulls Peter into a hug, “Oh Peter. First, I didn’t know that about you. That you’re bisexual, right?” Peter nods, as Steve smiles, “well, thank you for telling us that Pete. And we’re here for you if you need anything. I don’t have that much experience with gals, but Bucky here is bisexual too. We’re here for you Peter. And while we still have lots to do, you can be out and proud Peter. If you want to marry a man you can.”

Pulling Bucky closer to Steve, he smiles at Peter, “in fact, I think that’s what we’re going to end on, Peter. Bucky and mine first Valentine’s day together, which just so happens to be our anniversary.”

Peter looks up, “You got married on Valentine’s Day?!”

“Yeah, and it’s quite the tale too.”

----- For the first time in over 70 years, Steve was finally back home, with the love of his life. Thankfully, after the initial shock of finding out the truth behind the deaths of Howard and Maria Stark, Tony calmed down a bit. He was angry, rightfully so, but Steve was able to talk some sense into him. That Bucky wasn’t at fault. That Tony should be mad at Hydra. They were the real ones behind his parents' death. Tony left them, wanting to go after the remnants of Hydra, though he promised he’d try to sort out the Accords and let Bucky and Steve come back to the States, for the meantime they decided to take T’Challa on his offer to stay in Wakanda.

Steve didn’t think that he’d enjoy living in Wakanda. Mainly due to the fact that for him, home was Bucky and Brooklyn. They only left for the war. Their loved ones were buried there and that’s where he wants to spend the rest of his life with Bucky, in peace. But as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months, he realized it didn’t matter where they lived. Bucky was thriving here in Wakanda. Shuri was able to deprogram the triggers and even made him a new arm. For the first in 70 years, he was free from Hydra. And not only was he free, but he was also thriving. Bucky took up farming, he had a successful and thriving trip of goats. Steve made the mistake of calling Bucky’s precious trip, a herd of goats, and well… Steve never wants to get lectured about goat etymology ever again. But most importantly, they were happy and together. Something that they didn’t have for such a long time. And this domesticity got Steve’s brain going. Valentine’s day was coming up, and well, he wanted to make it special. After everything they’ve been through, Steve wants to make Bucky an honest man, and make him his husband.

That morning of Valentine’s day, Steve had everything set up. A simple altar where T’Challa would officiate the ceremony. It’d be just the four of them, Steve, Bucky, Winnie, and Sarah. Even though it’d been a while since he stepped foot into a chapel, Steve knew that their mothers wouldn’t miss this day. The day where they finally saw their boys get their happy ever after. On Bucky’s end, today was just like any other day. His goats needed to be fed and moved, and then he’d relax with Steve, watching another Disney film. Because apparently, that was the first thing Steve wanted Bucky to catch up on.

Steve takes a big breath as he sits down next to Bucky for breakfast.

“Hey, Buck?”

“Yeah Stevie? What’s up?”

“Well, you know how we talked about how we’d eventually get married. Well, I thought, and we don’t have to, but today’s Valentine’s day and well I have it all set up. Would you marry me tonight?”

Bucky takes a bite of his eggs as he shrugs, “sounds good to me. I just have to feed the goats first.”

“Okay then. I’ll… uh see you around 7 then?”

Bucky nods as he goes back to reading the “Wakandan Times”. Which, okay, this wasn’t how Steve was picturing any of this. Just so nonchalant with getting married. But, it didn’t matter, right, he tried to tell himself. What mattered most was that they were together. A piece of paper didn’t change anything.

Steve went about his day and finally came back to their hut, a quarter to seven to find that Bucky was nowhere to be found. In his place was a note.

“T’Challa told me where the altar’s at. Meet you there, punk.” Well, that’s surprising, Steve thought as he changed into his suit. They both had a suit, but Steve didn’t know if Bucky was going to wear his. He was risking being overdressed, but Steve wanted this day to be special, even if it was only special to him.

Getting out of the car T’Challa and his family lent him, Steve was overwhelmed when he saw Bucky standing at the altar, talking with T’Challa. His hair was up in a high bun, and he was wearing the gray suit that brought out the stormy blue in his eyes. It looked damn good on him. Walking up the altar, Steve tried to hold back his tears. This was everything he ever wanted.

“Finally, punk. I thought you did a runner on me,” Bucky chuckles as Steve stands next to him, holding onto his vibranium arm.

“I know you wanted to say a few words Captain Rogers, but Sergeant Barnes asked me to let him go first,” T’Challa smiles as he nods to Bucky.

“The first time I saw you, Stevie, in the churchyard of Father O’Malley’s chapel, I knew I loved you. That small, spitfire, mouthy punk. As we got older that love got stronger. You know the one thing that I thought, felt, as I fell from that train? Was that we’d never get to grow old together. Yet, here we are. Well, ¾ of me is here. And, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to relive anything I’ve been through, but it was worth it. Cause now I’m yours, punk. Forever.” Bucky tears up as he holds Steve’s hand.

“Buck,” Steve chokes, “the only thought I had when the Valkyrie was sinking was how we’d finally be back together. But you’re right. We’re here now, and that's what matters. You’re the only one I’ve loved, Buck. We’re together, till the end of the line.” T’Challa smiles as Steve wipes the tears out of his eyes.

“Not to keep either of you waiting, do you, Steven Grant Rogers take James Buchanan Barnes as your lawful husband?”

“I do.”

“And do you James Buchan Barnes, take Steven Grant Rogers as your lawful husband?”

“I do.”

“With the powers vested in me, by, well me, I pronounce you husband and husband. You can now kiss your husband,”

----- “Uncle Steve!” Peter blows his nose on a tissue he found somewhere. “That’s so beautiful!” Peter sniffles.

“Great, punk, I think you broke Spidey,” Bucky deadpans as Peter shakes his head.

“It’s just so beautiful. Knowing that you two got your happy ending. After everything, you went through. And thanks for telling me. I know I’m going to get an A on this.”

Steve chuckles as he cuddles next to Bucky. “You’re welcome, Petey. Glad we could be of help.” Running off, Peter leaves Steve and Bucky alone.

“God, that kid has so much energy,” Steve chuckles as Bucky nudges him.

“Yeah, reminds me of some little punk from Brooklyn. But you know what? I’m glad he was nosey. It was nice going down memory lane with you, punk.”

“It was, wasn’t it?” Steve leans in to Bucky, content with the peace they both have. No more fighting or running, only love.

#the hbc #hbc week of love #stucky #stucky fluff #steve rogers #bucky barnes #wedding #idiots in love

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indiacater · 4 years ago

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UNFINISHED CHAPTER

I have made the decision to completely redo this story. I just wasn't feeling connected to how the story was currently going. The way I was writing it no longer felt authentic to my style. And I will admit that I'm a perfectionist with my stories (who on this platform isn't?) So the remake will be posted after the new year. Outlaw will still continue and I do have another story in the works. In the meantime here is the unfinished chapter of addicted.

Tagging: @ao719 @desireepow-1986 @emceesynonymroll @dcbbw @bebepac @cordonianroyalty @texaskitten30 @glaimtruelovealways @kingliam2019 @bobasheebaby

Addicted ch.2

A week after meeting with the King and Lord Darren, Dr. Sugar was preparing to meet with the selected people for his insight intake. He looked at his pad and saw that he'll be first talking to Liam’s personal guard, Andrew. Then it was Duchess Olivia, who grew up with both Liam and Naima. Then lastly meeting with young Mr. Drake Walker, who also grew up with both Liam and Naima, and is Liam’s closest friend. As James continued to prepare he thought more of his opinion of the situation he was brought into. With what Constantine and Darren had told them Liam and Naima were expressing a healthy, yet reckless sexual relationship. However when both men mentioned the intimacy between the two didn’t start until after the deaths of their mothers. “Replacing emotional anguish with physical distractions is common, and a healthy coping mechanism.” He thought to himself. Yet he couldn’t shake the curious intrigue of this case. James thought back as he left the palace after meeting with Constantine and Darren, and seeing Liam and Naima their behavior would seem addictive in perspective but really looking at their actions they were more of overzealous newlyweds on their wedding night. Dr. Sugar chuckled at the thought and decided to speak with Liam and Naima before his sessions.

THE NEXT DAY

Dr. Sugar arrived a short time before his meeting with Andrew, as he set up his notes for the day he asked the palace staff of Liam and Naima’s whereabouts. Most advised him to steer clear of them, unless you walked in on them. Eventually he learned that they were in the adjacent library on the bottom floor as he approached he overheard an already strained conversation going on.

“Why do you need to head back today?” Said a man’s voice between breathlessly. “Come on just stay one more day. Let me convince you again.”

“I don’t need to be convinced anymore. I really do need to head back to the Valtoria estate.” A female voice responded. “Besides there some guy hovering outside the door.”

Upon hearing that James kept his head low as he walked in. Trying to keep his composure he addressed them.

“Good afternoon your highness, your grace. I’m Dr-"

“Who are you speaking too? Us or that floor?” Naima interrupted. “We’re fully dressed now.

Feeling slightly more embarrassed James lifted his head and continued. “Apologies. I'm Dr. James Sugar. Your fathers had hired my services to help you both. I’m meeting with some friends of yours to get a better idea of what I’m being brought in for.” James began to feel that meeting them at this point was a regrettable choice as he assess the looks of both Liam and Naima. With Liam he looked irritated by him being there, where Naima was more of a curious indifference. Feeling he already done this much he might as well finish. “I was hoping to meet the both of you beforehand and just introduce myself and plan ahead on when we can meet. Preferably I would to meet with you individually--" noticing Liam hard stare, immediately corrected himself. “Or if you’re more comfortable meeting together, I’m okay with that as well.” James finished.

A brief intense silence followed. Eventually Naima got up and pulled out a card from her bag and handed it to James as she got up and walked halfway out the door. “My personal estate number is on the bottom. Try to schedule something with me before the end of the week.” Naima spoke in a serious yet nonchalant tone. “A pleasure Dr. Sugar.” And with that she walked out.

Liam rushed to follow her but got halfway out the door before James called out to him. “Your Highness?!” Liam stopped abruptly and turned to James with subtle annoyance. “I still have time before my sessions begin. Why don’t we chat for a bit and schedule our session in the meantime?” James continued as he sat down. Liam hesitated at the door, then throws up his arm and grabs a chair.

“Seeing that you’re on our father’s payroll and determined to be in our business.” Liam scolds as he sits down. “Sure let’s chat.”

James straighten up and started with a softball. “Okay I won’t beat around the bush then. Are you or her grace aware of why I was brought in to talk to the two of you?”

“Who cares.” Liam answered as he leaned back in his chair. “Our father’s really need to mind their business of what goes on with me and Naima.”

“Well according to your father specifically, the two of you have a habit of making your business public for all to see.” James retorted, not intending to making it sound as rude as it did. He expected the young prince to be more agitated but instead Liam stood up and smiled.

“That’s why you’re here?” Liam asked, sarcastically. “Because Naima and I have sex? That’s a pretty low excuse to force Naima and I to meet with a therapist. I’m sure you can understand.”

James shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t disagree with that. However from what I have been told so far and from what I have briefly witnessed during my last visit, one can’t help but to be curious.” James noticed Liam’s demeanor soften slightly as he continued. “Normally any other psychiatrist would just roll over and beg at the hand that’s feeding them just to use the opportunity to bolster their reputation.”

“We should be so lucky.” Liam said with a hint of sarcasm. “Well doctor Sugar I shouldn’t keep you from you appointments. Feel free to get in touch with my father’s assistant to plan our appointment after confirming a date with Naima.” With that Liam got up, curtly bowed his head and left the room.

With a deep breath James got up and left to start his profile interview.

ANDREW

Liam’s personal guard was first. James figured that he more than anyone had seen the progression of this relationship and would be the perfect person to begin this fun journey. He arrived shortly after 11am and kept a stoic façade.

“Good morning, Andrew." Dr. Sugar began. “I appreciate you having the time to meet with me. Albeit it was at his majesty’s request but know it is appreciated.”

Andrew answered in a slight nod.

“Good.” Dr. Sugar said as he cleared his throat. “As you know Prince Liam and Lady Naima are the reason we're speaking today. I want to get your insight of their “relationship”. As you know them from a young age is there anything you would want me to know?”

Andrew sat up in his seat and sighed. “Contrary to what you've been informed of. I’ve only been his highness’s personal guard for the past three years. Before that I was a mere palace guard. I only became Prince Liam’s personal guard due to having the most run in with him and lady Naima.”

Doctor Sugar looked through his notes to search a particular topic. Looking back at Andrew. “Can you give me an idea how their relationship came to be?”

Andrew shrugged. “They’ve known each other since they were kids and younger than that. Their mothers were very close and would often have play dates. Just around a year before I became Liam’s guard is when I walked in on the making out. Just innocent stuff. About six months after I took the position I walked in on them in more progressive activities”

James looked down at his notes again. “What can you tell me about the headmistress incident(1)?”

Andrew’s eyes widen slightly. “I’m afraid that is classified. You could speak to his majesty or his highness, but I’m afraid I can’t help you there.”

The rest of the session went on smoothly. Dr. Sugar was able to learn that Liam and Naima graduated at the same time and would go off for days at a time together, but he wasn’t privy to give out that information. He did mention that there was an incident with Liam’s closest friend, Drake Walker (2).

Olivia

To say that Olivia frightened James was an understatement, it also unnerved him watching her toy with a stiletto blade.

“Thank you for sitting down with me Duchess.” He said, trying to mask any timidity in his voice.

“I really didn’t have much of a choice.” Olivia responded. “So what does my being here have to do with Liam?”

“I’m aware that you’re close with both Liam and Naima. What can you tell me about that?”

Olivia sits up straighter and places her blade down on the table. “I practically grew up with Liam. After my parents died I went to live at the palace until I came of age to rule Lythikos on my own. As for Naima she was around, we were sparring partners for a time, we attended the same schools. I wasn't that close to her."

"Hmmmm." James hummed. "Your Grace. If I may be so bold to ask have you had and romantic feelings towards Prince Liam?"

"Yes. It is bold of you to ask." Olivia replied, coldly. She remained quiet for a solid minute before breathing out a huge sigh. "If you're curious if I ever acted on those feelings then yes."

James eyes widen slightly as he leaned forward. "How did you act on them and how receptive was the Prince?"

"Last summer." Olivia began. "Naima was visiting her grandparents in America. They both were sick and didn't have long. So Naima was there for most of the summer. He and Naima would still chat in the morning and in the evening, but I noticed Liam becoming antsy. I seemed them together during Liam's girlfriend's incident (2). So one day I found him in the middle of self gratification and took advantage of the situation. Then we hooked up a few more times. I thought he finally noticed me, but sadly I was being naive."

"What makes you see that you were naive?" James asked curiously. Olivia shuddered a sigh and then responded.

"During the last time were together intimately."

#indiacater fic #choices #trr king liam #liam x mc #the royal romance fic #this story is wild #king liam #pixelberry

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haiky-u-lously · 4 years ago

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King Kuroo and the Red Knights (9)

Summary:

A Camelot AU where King Arthur is Kuroo Tetsuro, and the Knights of the Roundtable of characters from seasons 1-4 of the HQ anime. Eventual Kuroo X Reader.

Themes:

Action/fighting/killing, dead bodies, Fluff, Angst, Humor, Eventual Romance

Warnings:

Mentions of stalking and abuse of power, Language, Angst in feelings, Gore and fighting, mention of explosion, mention of seeing dead bodies

Word Count:

For Chapter: ~2800words

Questions/Comments/Concerns/Ideas welcome as always.

-Admin Red

Hi everyone! First, I’d like to half-apologize for my sudden disappearance from the weekly updates. I say half-apologize because I do feel bad about it, but the first week was supposed to be a break because I’ve had some physical issues come up and it really really hurts to type so I was trying to take a week away from overly stressing my fingers and putting them through more than necessary pain. So like, it was going to be fully justified even though I did feel bad.

But, after that first weekend without an update I got 7 anon and 2 not-anon asks and 2 direct messages all from individuals basically being hate messages. Regarding how I must be lazy for not keeping my posting up after only two weeks, regarding how the story is crap and they were happy I wasn’t flooding the tags with the b*s anymore. And for how few positive responses I have received regarding the story as a whole after 2 months of posting each week to receive so much after only 1.5 weeks...it was pretty much a punch to the gut.

I realize I am not a top writing for the HQ fandom, I realize that only like...maybe...10 people actually read this story each week, and I am truly grateful to everyone who does. But like that fact that I got so many rude messages as opposed to nice ones really tore me up, especially since in the absence (until yesterday) I hadn’t received any word that anyone was still enjoying the work.

This is why I would like to once again thank the anon who messaged me yesterday. As I said, the kindness you wrote to me made me cry because I’d been so down about this piece. And, I am really glad this work brought you any joy that it did, I hope it continues to do so.

Finally, I have a doctors appointment to get my hands checked out. After basically a month of being in pain with them hopefully something will come of it and I can get back to writing for this work. For now though, here is chapter 9. I hope those following for this piece enjoy it, and honestly if you only wish to send hate please keep it to yourself. Constructive criticism is fine, welcome even (as proven by the fact that I owned up to being wrong about certain characters being third years), but hate messages...those are just pointless.

I hope you like this next installment. Enjoy!

–Admin Red

Chapter 9: Morning of the Tournament

It had been a long few days as the castle staff, knights, and royals of Camelot prepared for the tournament they’d decided to hold. But everyone was in high spirits at breakfast that morning, even Suga and you who’d had a few close calls with your new hall-mate liking to barge in without so much as knocking to indicate his approach.

After the third scare of him walking in while you were eating, you’d started to use your magic to lock the door whenever your helmet was off.

“I still can’t believe how quickly he accepted that you just had (h/l), (h/c) hair when he saw the back of your head,” Suga commented biting into his eggs from his breakfast plate.

You laughed a bit before responding, finishing off your own mouthful of food. “Yea, he is very friendly though. I appreciate how true his comment was. Saying this was the most private hall of the castle? We only come across him regularly, it is pretty nice to be afforded the level of privacy I wanted. Even if there were a few mistakes at the beginning.” You smiled as you went in for more food.

Suga had finished clearing his plate before mouthing to you that he agreed with your assessment.

*knock knock*

When you heard the knocking from your door, rather than the whines of a knight who felt excluded from the so-called party, you knew it was someone other than the King’s right-hand man at your door. Quickly you put your helmet on, still hiding your true identity and removed your magic hold on the door so Suga could open it.

“Excuse me,” Futakuchi called upon entering your chambers. “Ah so you are both here, great! Makes this less work for me then.”

Suga laughed on both of your behalves at the attendant’s joke, having grown accustomed to his sense of humor as it was similar to your own.

“The King has asked me to tell you the order of today’s fights.” He said, pulling a piece of parchment from behind his back with a wide grin.

Suga’s eyes lit up as Futakuchi spoke, and you knew your friend was looking forward to this show of strength as much as any of the men of Camelot, and you smiled proudly behind your face-wear.

When a full minute passed without a word from the magician, Suga threw his hands out in exasperation, “Well then, what is it?”

“Oh, right!” The brunet fumbled the paper before moving to place it on your dining table to review with your pair. “So the first battle will be the most entertaining as the side by side matches should be--!”

His explanation was cut off by the ringing of bells from the courtyard.

“Another attack?” Suga questioned, not knowing the differences in Camelot’s alarm system since you’d heard it less than a handful of times.

Futakuchi shook his head, “No, it means a visitor. But I have no clue who could be approaching today of all days. Come, you should see who it is with me.”

Your group made it down to the front square of the Castle, only to watch as all of the knight’s you’d slowly begun to know over the course of the week run up to a pair of men riding in on horseback!

“You’ve made it!”

“What took you two so long?”

“Where have you been, idiots? The guests of honor arrived a week before you!”

“With Asahi and Ushijima here we are in for a real tournament!”

“Grand welcome for two of Camelot’s strongest! Welcome back to the castle latecomers.”

Watching the group, you realized the men were as close to one another as Suga and you were with your own band of Knights. You were grateful for the reminder of home, even if it made you miss your friends a bit more.

“Ah, so they really did show up today.” You heard from beside you and turned to face the speaker, “Pardon their inept ability to make proper introductions, Red Knight. The two newcomers are the pair I told you about before. Since they have arrived, I may make them participate in the tournament as punishment for being so late.”

You nodded to the King, indicating you’d heard him before stepping back to let him address his men from a better position atop the stairs.

“Thank you,” He smiled fondly before taking your prior position and screaming out to the men below him, “Ushijima! Asahi! Men!” The knights filed up at the base of the staircase, with the two new arrivals front and center. “Why are you so late?”

“Late?” Asahi asked, “You know, you all keep saying we are late, but we just got these summons a few days ago.”

Ushijima just shrugged and looked bored, “If we are supposedly late, we can just go back to where we were.”

The men around the pair started shouting obscenities at their friends’ casualness. You noted the joking manner between the group of twelve and realized that this kingdom truly did feel like they were in a time of peacefulness after the decades of darkness that befell them.

Looking to Suga, you noticed his eyes trained on the men below, joking and horseplaying as he had with his own companions, and you made a note to show how grateful you were to him once more. He’d left his home and friends to stay beside you, the least you could do is remind him how appreciative you were.

“--wever, the matter at fact is that our guests arrived a week before you. To top that, they fought on our side when the castle was attacked without all her guards in place. So I’ve decided you will join our tournament today, and I will not accept any excuses of being tired from your journey.” The King smiled down to his men. The pair grumbled about how unfair a punishment was being forced on them, the other men just showed excitement at the prospect of their friends joining.

“Yes! Yes! Yes! I want to fight Ushi!”

“Hells ya! Make them fight for their dinner while we’re at it!”

“I wouldn’t mind kicking some sense into the glass hearted giant myself!”

“Woaho! Fight time, let’s go!!”

Even the few not shouting out in pure joy had grins on their faces as they looked to and nodded at one another, all of them ready for what they now perceived to be a perfect tournament.

Waving your hand, you caught Suga’s attention, and holding your fingers up to make a triangle, you told him to ask about the tournament set up.

“Excuse us, King Kuroo.” He approached the royal, “This will probably change your line-up for the tournament?”

“You’re right! Futakuchi!” He yelled, to get the attendant’s attention away from joking around with the men below. “Come, we have to rearrange some things.” After his announcement, the King reentered the castle.

As he passed Futakuchi slowed to ask Suga a question, “How against are you showcasing your magic?”

Suga looked to you for your decision. Since showing magic would be the first test against the King’s ability to truly reconnect with the Order you decided it would be a fine move.

You shrugged your shoulders to indicate you didn’t care either way, leaving it to Suga’s discretion since he too knew of the testing methods.

“If I fight another magician, I don’t mind.” He answered positively.

Futakuchi’s grin overtook his features as he bobbed his head before following after his king.

“You sure like them, don’t you?” You whisper asked your friend.

“Like you don’t?” He laughed back. “If it goes well, perhaps we really can trust this new King and then you can focus on your other mission.”

Behind your shielded mask, you rolled your eyes and stuck out your tongue before answering, “Perhaps you can shut up because no one asked you about that.”

He laughed at your ire, but brought it down to nothing more than a smile seeing the knights climbing the stairs.

“Oh let me introduce you!” Bokuto yelled excitedly seeing your pair atop the staircase. “Ushijima, Asahi, these are the Red Knight representatives. This is Sugawara, the Knight’s squire, and that...well, we just call him the Red Knight, I’ve seemed to have forgotten his name.” The Knight ended up drawing out his introduction as he racked his brain trying to recall it.

“Oh the Red Knight doesn’t mind, we’ve been doing it all week.” Terushima countered, defending his friend’s forgetfulness, and you stifled a laugh as you imagined it was because he too forgot the name you’d chosen to use.

“Wait, you’re Sugawara? From the Order?” A longer haired male asked, stepping from behind the other men to look at your friend closely. After what you guessed was further inspection he grabbed your companion in a tight embrace, “It’s been years! How are you old friend?!” The male shouted in his ears.

You’d moved to unsheath your sword, only to pause at Suga raising his hand towards you.

“It’s okay Yomimasu, I actually think I remember this man.” He finally said once released from the embrace. The taller male backed up and sheepishly scratched at the stubble of hair growing against his jawline. Suga did his own visual study before grinning from ear to ear and giving the man his own version of a soul crushing bear-hug. “Azumane, goor sir. It’s been a long while. Glad to see you’re still alive!”

Hearing the name Suga called, memories flooded your mind of Suga’s friend from the summer years back. A traveling group stayed in a town near your own and the pair met in the forest when Suga was searching for you. After enticing the over-grown child’s help, Suga made fast friends with the boy. Sneaking off himself to go teach him some sword fighting skills and some of the things you’d taught him as well.

“Wait!” Semi interrupted your thoughts and the pair’s reunion. “You two know each other?”

Suga nodded, and Asahi moved to explain, “I stayed a summer nearby to where Suga lived when I was a child. He was the one who taught me to use swords, and his cousin taught us both how to write. Thought I’d never see them again, honestly. What are you doing in Camelot?”

Being questioned, Suga fell back into his more reserved mannerisms, “Of course, I am here as escort to the Red Knight as the Order has sent us to determine if Camelot is worthy of being considered an ally once more.”

The official reason for your visit.

It still angered you that it was your only excuse, that you weren’t meant to share your other reasons. But things were the way they were, and thus you stayed silent, watching the encounter from the sidelines.

“What are you doing as a knight of Camelot? I thought only those in some roundabout way related to the King’s lineage were accepted as knights?” Suga questioned.

“Oh, Kuroo did away with that rule long before he even became King. Quoting about how men should be fighter’s by their merit not their bloodlines.” Yamagata informed your pair.

Aone got a disgusted look on his face that made you want to laugh out, but you swallowed the feeling, he asked, “Did you think we were all somehow related?”

Suga glanced at you, and you did nothing to indicate your own thoughts of the matter, he sighed in defeat and answered, “Well not recently, but yes I felt your family trees must have connected somewhere down the line to the King’s.”

The group of men before him burst into fits of laughter as they regarded the idea and its apparent absurdity.

“What of your cousin? How does the Princess fair?” Asahi questioned, changing topics to try and save his friend some embarrassment.

“Cousin?” Daichi guffawed.

“Princess?” Atsumu and Osamu blurted out simultaneously.

Your body went stiff at Asahi’s question and you had to take a few deep breaths to calm yourself and tell your mind that they weren’t actually calling to you.

Suga grinned as if he didn’t have a care in the world as he answered his old friend’s question, “She’s happier than she’s ever been, last time I saw her.”

He turned to reenter the castle, probably to return to your room, but you weren’t sure. You were going to follow him but stopped dead in your tracks as Bokuto, Satori, Terushima and Atsumu all followed after him, asking so many questions over one another even you couldn’t make any of them out.

“So who are you?” A tall man, with short dark hair turned to you. He felt like he’d probably be more intimidating than Aone, but as you were currently sporting a full suit of armor, and held a secret that none in Camelot, save your own friend, knew, you didn’t actually feel frightened.

Daichi and Iwaizumi both stepped between your figure and the large knight, hands up defensively.

“Actually, Ushijima, while in uniform the Knight cannot speak. It’s a little challenging, but we’ve managed pretty well this past week. It’s easier to ask simple questions.” Daichi informed, and you appreciated the complete switch in the knight’s attitudes since you’d first arrived.

Iwaizumi nodded, “The letter you received should have detailed the purpose of their visit, Futa did a great job explaining everything in ours at least. We did a shite job of first impressions the night they arrived and yet he still helped us defend Camlot’s castle. The Red Knight is good people, trust us on that in the very least.”

It amazed you how much the male reminded you of your old childhood acquaintance. You wished you’d know the boy better to tell if he was the same man for sure, but alas, only Oikawa would have known...And, it’d been years since you’d seen him either. You felt the tear roll down your cheek before realizing you’d started to cry at the recollection. Closing your eyes you let your mind settle on nothingness to rid it of the negative memories regarding your ex-friend.

“Then perhaps you can answer simple yes or no questions?” The giant, presumably Ushijima questioned you. Upon seeing you nod, he hummed before continuing, “Are you really only here to see if Camelot can reconnect with your Order?”

While you knew how Suga would want you to respond, you also knew it wouldn’t be truthful. It’d been a long week developing trust with the members of Camelot’s court, and you the only way to keep that streak would be to stay honest. You shook your head in the negative.

Ignoring the shocked exclamations of the men around him, your interrogator continued. “Do you wish to bring Camelot or Kuroo harm?”

You stood at attention and shook your head once more, expressing clear displeasure at the mere idea.

The male hummed before bowing out of his inquisition, “I see. I look forward to getting to know you then.”

Watching him move inside the castle, you stayed where you were in anticipation of the other’s questions to follow your first answer.

“Aye, you weren’t being serious in having another motive, were you?” Osamu questioned, looking at you with disbelief dancing in his eyes.

You just bowed your head in apology.

“Does Sugawara know of your other mission?” Daichi questioned further.

You thought for a moment before rocking your hand side-to-side in front of you, telling the knights he kind of knew a bit about it, but entirely.

Semi shook his head and stepped forward, a frown clear on his face as he tried to find your eyes hidden in the shadows of your helmet, “Have you deceived us?”

His voice sounded so angry, almost threateningly so, but you knew you couldn’t answer that question without Suga by your side to explain. Thankfully you didn’t have to.

“Oi!” King Kuroo yelled from one of the windows overlooking the front gate. “Get to the main hall for review of the schedule!”

“In a minute!” Semi yelled back, still looking you up and down distrustingly.

Kuroo didn’t like this attitude in his knight’s defiance and yelled back, “Now!” Then laughed as he added, “Or no supper for any of the knights, Semi!”

The silver haired male tsk’d in annoyance before rushing inside.

“We trust you,” A voice called your attention from watching the others follow after him. “Not sure why it’s such a strong trust, but we do.” Aone looked at you directly, unbeknownst to him catching your eyes’ gaze with ease. “Don’t betray us.”

What could you do but bow in a show of understanding and acceptance. You really didn’t wish to betray them, and should they discover your secret in a manner not befitting your true identity, then the power will lie with them to do with you as they please.

_______________________________________________

Table of contents:

Chapter 8 Chapter 10

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endless-vall · 4 years ago

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I can’t lose you again - part I - Nostalgia - Dakota x MC fanfic

Summary: Alex returns to Edenbrooks after years of not being there. Everything has changes but stayed exactly the same. She can’t help but seeing Dakota everywhere she goes.

Authors note: After talking with @blue-sappir I finally decided to write & post this fic. It’s definitely bittersweet. Read at your own risk 😊

This fic will have two more parts. You can read the next part here.

Hope you enjoy!

Alex stood in front of the entrance to Edenbrook.

She hadn’t been there in years.

Well, she’d visited a couple of times when her mother still worked there, but it’s been a few years since she last stepped foot inside that hospital.

Alex had finished her Oncology fellowship in a different hospital when Edenbrook rang and offered her a job.

All the other benefits they suggested paled in comparison to the memory of Dakota. Of course she was going to take the job there.

Today was her first day. Alex have lived a full life, following every dream she had, making every desicion worth-while, never daring to leave anything to wonder ‘What if?’.

And it’s been a great journey. She had fallen in love a few times. None ever like the other. But her first love, Dakota, will always hold a dear place in her heart.

Edenbrook brought Alex her first grand love story. Maybe it’ll be the place to bring her her second one. The one that’ll she finally settle with.

Taking a deep breath, Alex stepped in. She was met with a familiar face, although she did look older now.

“Harper Emery. We spoke on the phone. You must be Alex?” Harper extended her hand.

“In the flesh.” Alex smiled and shook Harper’s hand.

“Welcome aboard.”

Alex spent her day getting to know the hospital all over again. So much had changed, but there were still many things that remained the same.

She got to know her new patients, her interns, her residants, and everybody on her floor.

Speaking on her floor... Alex passed, for the first time that day, near the room that used to belong to Dakota.

She stopped in her tracks, a familiar feeling washing over her.

‘Hey, teach,’ She could see him now, so clearly, standing next to the hospital room door in his hospital gown with his dorky smile and starstruck eyes.

Alex was about to take a step towards him. Towards Dakota, her Dakota,

When the patient’s room door swung open and a nurse got out of it. Neither her or the patient resembled Dakota, and Alex shook her head in confusion.

Was she just day-dreaming now?

She hadn’t thought of Dakota in a long time, not in that way, but being back in Edenbrook must’ve had it’s affect on her.

The day progressed, and Alex immersed herself in her work, trying to ignore all the memories washing over her.

Dakota in the cafeteria, enjoying a delicious chocolate pudding cup in the far away table where they first confessed their love for each other.

Dakota in the ER, as the kid who’s filming his friend with a video camera trying to lift his spirits after staying in for so long.

And Dakota... As the patient she loses, shutting off his monitors to give the family some quiet time to say their goodbyes as he breathes his final breath.

Alex gets back to her apartment after a long shift.

She opens a chat she hasn’t opened in some time.

‘Hey guys’ - Alex

‘Yooo how was your first day on the new job???’ - Mateo

‘Probably not so good, considering she’s writing us at midnight after her first day back in Edenbrook.’ - Lennox

‘Oh,’ - Mateo

‘I just really miss him today 😔’ - Alex

‘It’s Dakota-missing-hours for me too. Ever since you told us you were taking that job at Edenbrook I couldn’t stop but thinking about him.’ - Mateo

‘Mateo! Why didn’t you tell us?’ - Alex

‘Because he’s a dork. You both are.’ - Lennox

‘Is it bad-missing-Dakota-hours or good ones?’ - Lennox

‘Both’ - Mateo

‘Both’ - Alex

After that, a video call popped up into Alex’s screen. She quickly answered, seeing a semi-blurry picture of Lennox, and Mateo, each in their own separate screen.

“I don’t usually do this, but c’mon. Let’s talk.” Lennox starts, and the rest of the night passes... Okay.

Alex feels okay again.

“Thanks, you guys,”

The next few weeks fly by. She hasn’t thought of Dakota since that first day.

Well, not more than the occasional thought.

“Excuse me?” An unfamilar voice shakes Alex out of her line of thought.

“Huh?” She looks up from a chart she has been reading and meets a handsome stranger. “Sorry, what did you say?” She sends an apologetic smile at him.

“I said ‘Hi, I’m Dr. Flores, and I’m a surgeon here. I don’t think I’ve seen you around, Dr...” He looks down at her name tag.

“Woods.” They both say together, and Alex gets a little flustered, chuckling along with the friendly surgeon.

“I’m new. Well, kind of.” She notes.

“Well, you should definitely come to Donahue’s after your shift’s over. Everybody will be there.” He winked at her. She heard about that bar. Most of the hospital doctor hung out there after-hours.

“Ahh... I’m not so sure. I haven’t really hitted things off with anyone. I don’t wanna sit around with my colleuges just ‘cause they have to and be bored to death.” She shrugged, trying to get back to her chart but Dr. Flores caught her eye. He had that glint in his eyes, that same one that made her stomach flutter. She couldn’t tear her gaze away just yet.

“Well, I’ll be there. And I’m pretty good at not boring people to death, I’ve been told.”

“Oh, you have?” She raises an eyebrow in an amused tone.

“Yeah! You should ask around. So you’re coming?” He has a confident smile, but a hopeful gaze underneath.

“I’ll think about it.” She promises, and just at that moment he’s getting paged. He shoots her a knowing look before dissapearing into an unknown direction.

Alex looks back to her chart. She couldn’t supress the smile blooming into her lips. She hadn’t felt that flutter in her stomach in a while.

She’d dated since Dakota.

She had a boyfriend in her last year of collage, and most of through medical-school.

And while you shouldn’t compare one love to another... None compared to Dakota.

She always told herself it was because he was her first love, and such a big part of her life.

But Dr. Flores... He reminded her of Dakota. Not in appearance though, but in his dorky-but-confidnet approach and warm personality.

He might break through Alex’s tough exterior.

‘He’s not more good-looking than me, is he though?’ Alex turns around.

She can swear she see’s Dakota there. But just as soon as she sees him, he’s gone.

She must be imagining things, since it’s her 20th hour of the shift, right?

That must be it, she tells herself.

Shaking her head, she finally closes the chart and goes to meet her most recent patient.

She does go to Donahue’s that evening, but decides against going inside last minute. She goes home instead.

It’s the first time in her life she lets herself wonder ‘What if...?’.

But it’s not a ‘What if I went in and chatted with Dr. Flores’.

It’s a ‘What if Dakota was still alive...? What would her life look like?’.

It’s a warm but melancholy feeling. And she can’t shake it off.

After that, she sees him everywhere.

It’s not glimpses anymore. Not quick glances at the cafeteria. Not patients that somewhat resemble him.

No.

It’s her Dakota.

Watching over her, like he promised.

Until one day...

“Dr. Woods! Dr. Woods!” She hears a voice calling. Her whole world is blurry and hazed.

She blinks a couple of times, trying to focus.

Finally, she gets a clearer view.

Is she... Lying on the floor? Dr. Delarosa is bending next to her, checking her vitals.

“Help is on the way. Stay with me Dr. Woods!”

She wakes up in a hospital bed.

Mateo and Lennox are standing next to her bed. They weren’t around in the last few months, but with her mother gone, they were the next thing to a family she had.

“You really gave us a scare back there.” Mateo joked when Alex finally opened her eyes.

He was standing right next to her bed, giving her that concerned look of his, and taking one of her hands in his.

“They said you’re going to be fine. That you probably worked yourself too hard but some rest and fluids should do the trick.” Lennox explained. She took Alex’s other hand in hers, but rolled her eyes as if she wasn’t worried too.

Alex saw someone else in her room, too.

Dakota was in the back of the room, leaning on a drawer next to the window.

Alex looked at the figure. He looked just as real as Mateo or Lennox.

“Didn’t they... find anything else? Something out of the ordinary?” Alex asked, a realization downing on her.

Lennox and Mateo exchnaged a puzzled look. “No...?” Lennox raised an eyebrow at her.

“They ran a full check-up. You’re in perfect health.” Mateo added. “According to what the nurse said... Unless you have something specific in mind?”

“Remember when I said I saw Dakota everywhere I went that first night I got to Edenbrook?”

“Yeah?” They both answered in the same time.

“Well, maybe I’ve been seeing him around a lot. Like... Not in the ‘I miss him and immerse myself in memories of him’ way.” Alex admitted.

It’s the first time she admitted it to herself, too.

“In what way then?” Lennox asked in an upset tone, her features growing into a frown.

The three of them probably already know the answer. But just like Alex has been taught in her training to become a doctor. You can’t give vauge answers to your patients. And definitely shouldn’t give vauge answers to your doctors.

You have to say it out loud. So they can process it. Know it’s real.

“I’m... Seeing Dakota right now. He’s over there.” Alex gulps, and points behind them.

Mateo and Lennox both turn around.

Dakota has a sad smile while he waves at them. When Mateo and Lennox both look back towards Alex, it’s clear they can’t see him.

“I’ll go get the doctor.” Mateo’s smile breaks for the first time. He rushes out of the door.

Lennox stays put in place. Frozen, even.

So Alex looks back at Dakota.

She smiles at him, despite herself.

“Hi... Alex.”

#playchoices #playchoices fanfiction #with every heartbeat #dakota winchester #dakota x mc #weh #vip book #fanfic #my writing #hurt #comfort #hurt & comfort #i can't lose you again

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paragonevil · 4 years ago

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I'm gonna be honest, as far as Aku, evil overlord dictator of an empire that's dedicated to wiping out most if not all of humanity, you write him too mushy. He's supposed to be a sociopath, from what we see in the show, but you have him being shipped with like, a dozen people. You write him waaayy too nice. That being said, I suppose if you didn't, you would have very limited interaction with people, and you've written out "development" for him, but the point still stands that he's way too roman

What do you think about my interpretation? | accepting!

ooc ★ Before I get onto my response, I’d like to thank you for having the audacity to send this. I feel there’s this unhelpful idea in the rpc that people have to agree with everything you post; and to say you disagree with someone’s interpretation is often met with ferocious resistance. But when I reblog memes of this nature asking for opinions, I want the good and the bad. I AM always looking to improve, and to not take criticism when I so freely dish it would be hypocritical of me, I guess. ( For lack of a better word, right off the top of my head. )

I COULD put this under a cut, but I feel this is important enough to just let it sit out in the open. It’s something I’ve been thinking about a while.

That said, two things for you.

Firstly, I LOVE writing violence! In fact, I’d go so far as to say it’s in my top two favorite things to write, right beside slow-burn romance ( and particularly one-sided yearning ). However, while I used to jump at every opportunity to write violence, I can admit I’ve since slowed down a bit. Not only because I’ve gotten progressively less and less people coming to Aku trying to pick a fight with him, but also because I’ve come to feel that fight threads without a purpose to further the plot are repetitive and somewhat boring. It tends to be a lot of the same-old same-old; repetitive actions, repetitive imagery. And yes, while this is a significant piece of his character in the show, and I love exploring it even further and particularly pushing the bounds of his abilities, if it doesn’t serve a purpose in the greater scheme of a plot or an arc then... Why waste your time with it? And frankly this goes for all repetitive actions, like gratuitous sex and slice-of-life. If it doesn’t serve a purpose to write, such as say to kill an important enemy or fight a significant battle or even to maim a loved one when he’s not himself and bring down the angst hammer, then? Why.

Secondly, despite not wanting to write violence just for the sake of violence... I can admit I want some conflict over here. But that’s just the thing. In Aku’s main verse he’s samurai-less. I did this simply because the NUMEROUS Jack blogs there used to be have since become inactive, and if my initial intention with Aku’s blog almost from the very start was for him to kill a Jack and switch over to my Bad End universe, I can’t very well have Aku always worried about a ghostly, intangible threat that he can’t confront. And of all the Jack’s on this hellsite, of which I’ve written with and followed more than a few along the way, I can only name ONE which is still active. ( And another which followed me today, on that note, but they don’t have a rules nor an about page, so. ) ...But that first Jack I mentioned, @sonxflight, we don’t really write anymore. Nowadays Dari’s been more focused on fluff / romance threads, and I’ve been more interested in developing Aku’s mental health. Aku isn’t gonna go out of his way to confront a Jack that he views as not being his problem. Dari’s Jack isn’t the one from my Aku’s universe. Dari and I just kinda tag each other in dash memes and comment on one another’s posts once in a while; and that’s about the extent I see action from a Jack nowadays.

I would LOVE some more conflict on this blog! But I’m not going out of my way to find it if it doesn’t particularly serve to further my current plot— which is Aku’s eventual ascension to Godhood at the end of this year. And that’s another thing, if Aku himself doesn’t stand to gain anything from talking to someone, inciting a conflict, or being a dick to somebody, he’s pretty much going to keep his distance. He finds most people to be a waste of his time; and this is nothing against other RPers whom I love seeing on dash! Because lord knows I’d love to push him to interact with folks. But if Aku himself looks down his nose at most people and finds them not only boring but also boorishly stupid, then there’s not much else for it. He sees others that come to him for money, freedom, and other boons in exchange for their services as nothing more than cattle; and frequently this is how his meetings with new people go. Meeting others out in the field is the best way to get a truly organic and not copy-and-pasted interaction out of him. And even then, there’s still numerous factors which would predicate how such an encounter might go.

Because there’s not too much conflict on this blog for now, I’ve decided to take greater liberties with exploring shipping and platonic relationships also. But for those of you who have followed me for a while, who have seen me mention on more than one occasion that slice-of-life threads aren’t really my schtick, I can understand why you might be a bit confused. Well, allow me to explain: the reason I’ve chosen to place greater emphasis on these kinds of relationships lately is to preclude a little RP / character bleed mishap which happened recently and which impacted my enjoyment when writing as him and even just simply being on this blog. And by ‘recently’ I mean slowly, over a period of the past several months.

Aku’s entire arc with Rick demonstrated to both of us that he’s in an incredibly bad kind of headspace in regards to healthy relationships on this blog. In his universe with Rick, basically all his ties are a result of his relationship with Rick. Bill ( wildgcd, whose blog has since been deleted ) and Ashi ( @tigersteeth ) are both inactive, and have been for months +. They’re the only ones with whom Aku has a healthy relationship that isn’t directly tied to Rick in that universe, and as a result he tends to rely quite heavily on Rick for his social needs. So when Rick left him too, Aku’s abandonment issues reared their head. Unhelpfully, mun has a problem with abandonment amongst a slew of emotional / psychological problems quite similar in nature to the one’s Aku suffers from— albeit with a fun little mortal twist. 🤗 So I knew I needed to take action so I could comfortably be on his blog in the inevitability that Stephanie goes on hiatus again. Which is why I’m trying to focus a bit more on building more platonic and romantic relationships besides the ones with Rick and co. that way Aku has more people with whom to spend his time when Rick is away.

Furthermore, now that Jack’s out of the picture regardless of verse, Aku’s allowed himself to focus more on making friendships and forming attachments just in general. One of the reasons he tended not to do such before is because he felt that Jack would kill whomever he felt close to in an effort to get to him. In fact, he even shouted at Rick for daring to mention that he and Jack could possibly work together to build a future which would be brighter and better for everyone; because he felt certain that Rick would wind up being targeted by Jack to get to Aku.

He’s started going to therapy, also, to address long-held mistaken beliefs in himself, too. Beliefs which interfered with the relationships he had tried to foster with others; it was enough to frustrate him, when he let himself acknowledge such, and he knew he needed to sit down and talk with someone professionally if he didn’t exactly have friends around per se with whom he could talk. Also, I personally believe he chose not to do such before, because his very existence was hinged on destroying Jack so he could conquer the universe in peace without meeting resistance. While he knew he was unhappy and knew furthermore that he had some problems that needed addressing— and had even made a thin attempt to talk about such with himself in show canon as you recall— ultimately his mental well-being took second banana to making sure Jack was DEAD.

The therapy, coupled with his own slow internal journey, some perspective which was afforded to him during Rick’s absence, and some 4th wall Discord conversations has lent him valuable insight on the way he functions—and how Nightmare works too. Who, in many ways is just himself but with unchecked mental delusions and mistaken beliefs that had grown unchecked. He saw what had happened to Nightmare mentally, and didn’t want such a fate for himself. Hence the therapy and greater, braver attempts to let himself be closer to others.

Finally in the case of Bill and Nightmare... both of them take place in different universes, of course. Universes which in themselves were split just after the break up between Aku and Rick. Aku is still thoroughly alone in those universes, because again. He doesn't have Rick and all the people who were brought into his life as a result of his relationship with him. He’s at that point in his immortal life where he’d like to try his courage and test out the things he’d discovered about himself in therapy and in his personal self-explorations, and see about developing a relationship with someone with a fresh perspective with his recent failure as Rick’s partner in mind. Which is why he’s so amicable with them and trying to get to know them better. He wants to see what a healthy relationship, platonic or otherwise, developed on his own might be like.

However. I WILL acknowledge that Aku trying to make friends with people is ooc. It’s ALSO ooc for Aku to try fucking / romancing someone. There, I said it.

But you know why that is? It’s because that facet of his character was never explored in canon, even in all the comics, games, and the addition of the 5th season in 2017. So I suppose you could say that if I were to play him absolutely true to his canon material he’d only ever be a fucking mauling, mutilating, destroying, force of nature. Which yes, he still is despite my writing him how I do with a greater emphasis here lately on developing relationships with other characters. I ask you: isn’t the whole point of RP to develop dynamics and explore facets of a character that canon neglected? I could do fight threads all day, boy; but please ask yourself: how much would that really serve to further my interpretation and understanding of him, if at that point I’m just rehashing canon fights with a fresh coat of paint and different enemies? Whereas platonic and romantic relationships are a thoroughly headcanon and character-development heavy area for a character like Aku, who hasn’t had a single friendship or romantic relationship in his canon media.

And if you’d like cliff notes, rp examples of him being fucking EVIL, and links to evil headcanons I have you’re more than welcome to send a second ask asking for said information. But I think I’ve already given you plenty to think about and read, unless you’re some kind of masochist and want to torture yourself more with reading my self-absorbed and self-assured opinion. Thanks for making it this far, here’s your consolation prize.

TL;DR: Canon already gives me fights for days, boy. And while I thoroughly enjoy writing fight threads, they tend to be repetitive and exhausting if they’re not serving a purpose in a plot arc. Whereas things like interpersonal relationships for a character like Aku, who did not see such development in his canon media, is full of things to explore. And ultimately that’s what RP is about, exploring facets of a character which canon doesn’t explore for you. Once again, thank you for asking, and I hope this answers your question. I can provide examples for everything cited above, as well as fight threads and evil moments abound if you’d like. Furthermore, if there’s anything I do in RP which confuses you or which you feel is ooc, I invite you to jump in my askbox again with further questions. I’d be happy to explain my reasoning for ANYTHING I write!

P.S. I INVITE you to form your own opinions and compare me to my duplicates, 90-100% of whom are inactive. <:) Here they are, for your browsing convenience: @unspeakablyevil @akunoakuma @onibred @aku-blogs @shogundad Take a gander, consider what I just told you, and then see if you can hit me with this same anon again, yes? 😏💕

#◜♚◞#cobalt's talking shit #◜testimony◞#anonymous #long post

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innerpostmentality · 5 years ago

Text

Sometimes Beginnings Start With Goodbye IX - You

This is a TRR AU fan fic inspired by the Choices book series The Royal Romance All rights and many thanks are given to Pixelberry Studios for the use of their characters. Original characters are mine. The Sometimes Beginnings Start With Goodbye series is written for my friend @tornbetween2loves it started as a birthday fic and today I’m celebrating my awesome friend’s birthday again! Please read these stories in order or they won’t make sense. The series links can be found in my Masterlist. There will be more parts to this series. Featuring: Drake Walker X Meridoc Finn Rating: This part is PG but the story overall is very M Word count: around 2800

Warnings: none for this part SBSWG tags: @tornbetween2loves @gardeningourmet @allaboutchoices@stopforamoment @bobasheebaby @cora-nova @indiacater @ao719@hopefulmoonobject @drakewalkerwhipped@texaskitten30 @darley1101 @furiousherringoperatortoad @emceesynonymroll @princessleac1 @romanticatheart-posts

It had been one week two days and five hours since he’d seen her. He drank the protein shake he’d made without even tasting it. He washed the blender and his glass and set them in the drying rack before leaving the palace kitchen and heading to the stables. Methodically he fed each horse their apportioned morning feed and marked their charts. He pulled his measured bottle of water from the fridge in the stable and drank the prescribed 8 ounces before doing the prescribed stretches. Slinging the bottle strap around his neck he jogged out of the stable and out to the trail before picking up the pace. He focused on his stride, his breathing, his posture, the burn in his muscles. When he got to the 5k marker he walked around it slowly while he drank another 8 ounces of water before running back to the stable. He filled his water bottle back up and put it back in the fridge. He was toweling himself off when his autopilot disengaged enough that he realized he was being watched. Drake turned and met the deep blue eyes that pierced him like a knife in his heart. Breandan Finn had the same blue eyes as his daughter and they were currently measuring him intently. He turned away and hung his towel on a tack peg and took a deep breath before he brought himself to meet the old man’s eyes. “Morning, Mr. Finn. Um, did you need something? Can I assist you?” “Ach, aye mac, indeed you can. Ni thuigim.” He shook his head and frowned then carefully put his words together. “What are you doing, Drake?” “I, uh, just finished my run. I need to change before I check in with the King.” Drake rubbed the back of his neck as he purposely misunderstood Meridoc’s father. Breandan shook his head. “No. You should go to m’inion. Dublin, not here is where you should be.” He pointed a thin finger to the North West. “A man should na be where his heart is no. You run and run but m’inion is there and you will na find her here.” Drake ran a hand through his hair and dropped his hands as he sighed. “Sir… I…” He shook his head. “Look, I asked her to stay… I… I told her. Sir, I told her I love her. But she left. So I have to respect that.” The old man’s eyes narrowed, “An what did she say?” Drake shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Ach yer arsewise in this Mac. It makes the world what M’inion said. What did she say?” There was a snap in Breandan’s voice Drake hadn’t heard before. Drake’s voice when he found it was soft and filled with pain. “She said she loved me. But then she left.” He felt the tears starting. He hated that. Hated that he had no control. Hated the nakedness of his raw emotions. He shook his head and turned from Breandan. Breandan laid his hand on Drake’s shoulder. “Mac… Son… come here to me, m’inion is very honest, very… smart.” Drake met his sapphire gaze and wiped at his tears. “She would no tell you that lightly. She is a doctor Drake. She can no be with a patient as woman to man. Go to her. She did’na leave because she did no love you. She left because she does.” He saw the truth in Breandan’s eyes and felt his vision tunneling as the enormity of it hit him. She hadn’t been sparing him. She loved him. He bent over bracing his hands on his knees feeling like he was about to pass out. “I have to go to her.” He managed though he didn’t feel like he had any air. She actually loved him and left so he wouldn’t be her patient. He wasn’t her patient any more. And she loved him. And it was over a week and he hadn’t even called her. “I have to go … now.” Breandan was grinning when Drake looked back up at him. “Ach, yes. Tis certain ya do.” Drake pulled the older man into a fierce hug before he dashed for the palace.

He glanced at his watch as he ran to his room starting to strip even as he opened his door. He didn’t wait for the water to warm up before he stepped into the cold shower quickly rubbing himself with soap gritting his teeth against the sting of the icy water. His mind was racing as he sluiced shampoo into his hair. He would ask Liam if he could use the royal jet just to get him there. That would be the fastest. He needed to call her. He needed to talk to Breandan. He had her address but he didn’t know her schedule. He would send her flowers and ask her out. He would need a hotel room in Dublin. He would take it slow, no pressure. He had a diplomatic passport but he wasn’t sure what he would need to be able to get a job. He stepped into the warming water letting it rinse the shampoo from his hair and the soap from his body then shut the shower off and grabbed a towel drying himself quickly just enough not to leave a puddle as he went into his bedroom and grabbed clean boxers and a tee-shirt from his drawers before going to his closet. It may have been the first time in his life that his wardrobe seemed insufficient. Mr. Two Suits, he shook his head and put on the suit that Maxwell had helped him pick out over a year ago. He grabbed his lone suitcase and his gray suit and went back to his bedroom. He would have to pack after he talked with Liam. Quickly slipping on a pair of deck shoes he left to go meet Liam for lunch. Mara was standing by the king’s office door when he got there. She shook her head at him as he approached. “Mr. Walker, His Majesty is currently not available I’m afraid. He asked if you might speak with him later?” Drake was brought up short. He frowned. “Is everything okay?” Mara looked at the door and shook her head then turned back to Drake. “I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say. I’m certain his Majesty will wish to speak with you later.” Drake frowned as Meridoc’s words came back to him. “Everything you do is for them. It’s on their time table. It’s with consideration for them. You have to figure out what you want for you, Drake. I’ve been here for five months working with you and studying all the dynamics of this place. It’s a fine place. But I don’t think you can grow here. And I can’t stay here anymore knowing that.” He shook his head. “I’m leaving.”, the words just fell out of his mouth. “Um… Please let his Majesty know I came by. I’ll call him later.” He turned without waiting for Mara and called the airport as he went back to his room to pack. He looked at his one suitcase and carefully packed his grey suit, his dress shoes, he tossed in enough undergarments for a week and a couple of pairs of jeans and denim shirts then grabbed the ring box with his grandmother’s ring. Checked his watch for the time and saw his flight to Dublin was only a couple of hours from then. Grabbing his suit case he headed for the palace garage. He asked Demetri, one of the palace chauffeurs if they would drive him to the airport. As soon as they were on the road he called Bastien. “Ela, Drake!” Even in his distracted state he caught a strange, joyful note in Bastien’s tone. “You sound good, Bastien. I.. I just needed to call you and let you know that I’m going to Dublin.” There was silence for a moment on the line.

“For Doctor Finn, yios?” “Yes. I, I took her advice. Thought about what I actually wanted. It all kept coming back to her, Bastien.” “Then you should go to her.” Bastien chuckled. “I also have a bit of news. I’m going to be a father.” Drake dropped his phone and had to unbuckle himself and fish around on the floor for it. He heard Bastien calling his name as he picked it back up. “…. Drake? Are you there?... Did we lose connection?” “Sorry. I’m here. Just dropped my phone. Damn. I mean. Wow. How did that happen? Damn, singariteeria, Bastien!” Bastien was laughing. And Drake heard the joy in his deep chortle. “Yios, it happened in the usual manner of such things happening. It is a strange moon Drake. I asked the king for time off and permission to court Her Grace, Lady Olivia. And he decided to knight me. Then I came to see her and found that she was expecting our child. Then you called me that you are going after Dr. Finn. How did Liam take you leaving?” “He was busy and I was going to miss my plane if I waited for him. So he doesn’t know yet. I’ll try to get him before I get on the plane but if he’s still busy I may already be in Dublin before we speak.” Bastien’s voice was very serious, “Drake you do what you need to do. I love you, Yios. Liam will be well. You deserve to be happy.” “Thank you, Bastien. And I’m really happy for you and Olivia. I’ll let you know more as soon as I know more…. Bastien se agapo.” “Se agapo, Yios. Safe journeys.” *********************************

It may have been the hardest six hours of his life, the time between going through the gate to get on the plane in Cordonia International and getting off the plane in Dublin. It was the first time he’d flown since his hospitalization and the only time he’d flown since he was an adult without the assistance of good alcohol. He didn’t think of himself as an anxiety prone flyer. And maybe it was the overwhelming sense that he was truly starting a new chapter in his life. Or maybe all the mind games he was playing with himself as he planned and then discarded plan after plan on how exactly to contact Meridoc. Each scenario playing out in his head as more disastrous than the last. He thought he’d bring her flowers then imagined he would pick something that she hated or was allergic to. He thought he would surprise her then envisioned her answering the door expecting dinner for her and her new boyfriend. He imagined her gently and patiently explaining to him how this was all a mistake. He wanted a drink so damn badly it hurt. And he couldn’t just run or exercise to squash it. So he drank four ginger ales and four bottles of water and suffered the embarrassment of having to ask out of the middle coach seat twice to go relieve himself. He still remembered The Rules. Meridoc lancing him with the deep sapphire of her gaze before she wheeled him out of the hospital to start his rehab at the palace. “Three things. You must try. No giving up, playing hooky, taking shortcuts. No alcohol. No beer, hard cider, or liquor, not in drinks, not uncooked in food. And lastly, You must communicate honestly. No silent brooding. No lying even by omission. Do these things and I’ve got you, every step. Break them and I’m on the next plane.” He supposed in someway he had broken the third. He knew long before his cock woke back up and declared it that he had fallen in love with her. He just couldn’t figure out how to tell her and not lose her. And here he was. His plan as he landed in Dublin was to get a reasonable hotel until he could get an apartment and find a job. He had some savings and investments that would get him through a few months as long as he was careful. Bastien had insisted that he save and invest. And while he had almost resented it when he was in school and much younger, today he was grateful for the options it gave him. He had checked his only bag and with one flash of his diplomatic passport he was through customs in almost no time. He did ask the customs officer what he would need to do if he decided he would like to try to find a job in Ireland and the official shook his head and told him that as a member of the royal household of Cordonia he wasn’t eligible to work in Ireland. He was welcome to stay as long as he wanted but unless he was a student or possessed certain Critical Skills he wouldn’t be permitted to work. Drake nodded but was undeterred. If he had to pull strings he would.

Coming out of the customs area he stopped, stunned as a beautiful, tiny torpedo ran to him and hugged him fiercely. “Chaill mé an oiread sin. Ah Drake. I missed you.” He dropped the handle of his suitcase and wrapped her in his arms holding her tight. He buried his face in her hair inhaling her scent and feeling like his heart had found home. His tears were falling and his throat was tight and all he could manage was “S’agape, Meri. s’agape.” She pulled back smiling through her own tears and met his eyes. “Ach, aye, I love you too.” She gently stroked the tears from his cheeks then chuckled. “See what you do?” She dabbed her eyes. “Come on. Let’s go home.” Drake felt sort of dazed as she led him out to the Taxi stand explaining that with the lunch rush and his luggage it would be better than trying to take the train or the bus. If he wasn’t so enchanted by the lilt of her voice he might have realized that she was a bit nervous. But her voice nourished and comforted him in ways he couldn’t explain. Finally he realized that she was looking at him expectantly and he had no idea what she had asked him. “Pardon? I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting you to meet me. And now I’m waiting to wake up drooling down my shirt.” She squeezed his hand that she’d been holding on to. “I asked how your flight was?” She stroked his hand and smiled. “Da called and told me you were coming.” She looked down at their clasped hands and her voice got soft. “He said you wanted to talk.” Drake stared at her delicate hand in his for a long moment. “Yes.” He nodded and looked in her eyes. “Your dad talked to me. And I realized something you told me. I thought about what I really wanted…” The taxi stopped then in front of a rather oddly shaped building that looked like an imperfect stack of triangular shaped floors that rose five stories constructed out of repurposed archaic bricks, rusted steel, and glass. Drake realized the offset of the floors allowed for every apartment to have a balcony. And he was certain the rent was high. But the curbside esthetic had him shaking his head. Meri saw his look and chuckled. “I know. Trust me it’s better on the inside. It’s two bedrooms and two bathrooms, close to work for me, and accessible for Da.” Drake stopped her as she started to climb out. “Meri… I don’t want to impose. I was planning on renting a room somewhere until I could find a place.” She looked down a minute at their clasped hands then looked in his eyes. “What do you want, Drake?” His chestnut gaze locked with the deep ocean of her eyes and his voice was a silken whisper, “You.” ---- To be continued…..

#choices drake walker sometimes beginnings start with goodbye happy birthday Liz! choices fanfic trr au

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twdmusicboxmystery · 4 years ago

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Re-Watch of 4x15: Us by @wdway

Today’s post is a rewatch of 4x15 done by @wdway. So this is a discussion between her, me and frangipanilove. Hope you guys enjoy it!

@wdway:

Here you go ladies, s4e15 Us, series number 50.

Eugene and Tara walking on the tracks, Eugene comments about foil and bleach making a homemade battery. Nothing new here but I felt with all the batteries that we see in this episode I just wanted to note it.

There's only one scene with Rick Michonne. There is something that Rick said here I wanted to point out. He mentions that "we have a day's worth of water left." Nothing particularly odd about that but it sets a tie to Rick and water=Beth.

In watching especially Abe & company I was struck by the fact that this episode really emphasizes the passage of time between the prison escape and this episode. The trees are in full fall colors and everyone is wearing heavier clothes.

There are several number 3 mentions of this episode. The first one was Joe when he talks about loving cats since he was 3. Then we have Rosita’s mention of 3 left turns. Eugene mentions 3 when he says that Maggie's group would be walking at 3 miles per hour. I count 3 mentions of the number 3.

Now for what I noticed, and this happens early on before the opening credits. Glenn and company find a Terminus sign that Maggie has written on. He takes off running and this is what I want to show you.

I cropped it to emphasize what I want you to see, and maybe this has been talked about before, but it really struck me when I saw it. There between Glenn and Tara you see a "W" sign. We have talked so much about the one that is so prominent behind Daryl but have we really talked about this one?

We always have associated it with the Wolves, which I think is true. This time watching though, I had a different reaction to seeing it and what it could foreshadow. We see Glenn running when he passes it in search of Maggie. I think that's important for the reason that he finds her within this episode (it happens quickly).

This particular, first "W," I truly believe represents the wolves and the story line for it comes into play for Glenn in s6A when the wolves invade AZ and Glenn has his death fake out. It ends happily though with his second reunion with Maggie.

I'm sure you both have realized where I'm about to go with Daryl and the "W." I believe this W stands for Whisperers.

And before I say anything else, I want to point out that in the shot of Glenn running Tara is also there but Tara is standing still, she was present for both the W's the Wolves and the Whisperers.

Back to Daryl and how we see him on the railroad tracks. He's just gone under a bridge. He is slowly walking with the "W" staying in the frame for quite a while. His "W" represents both the Wolves but especially the Whisperers. His journey will be much slower and much longer.

Daryl and Joe exchange cat stories with the "W" lingering in the background for so very, very long. They then moved into the garage and we have discussed this garage many times. I thought that we had found everything that could be found and yet…

This is where Lenny accuses Daryl of stealing his half of the rabbit. It's the truck in the background I want you to look at. I talked about this truck just last week, asking if the type of truck was the same type of truck that Denise rode in on her last day.

Looking at the scene just a few hours ago when I was getting a different shot, what occurred to me is this truck’s back tailgate is down. Would that not be the equivalent of a trunk being open? And notice the blue on the inside of the truck bed. Just as a reminder, earlier in the episode when they first arrived at the garage, we could clearly see the license tag that is the same as the tag of the car Beth was taken away in.

This is a wonderful shot of the Lincoln Continental. That's was the same type of vehicle that Daryl and Beth hid in the trunk in Still. This time though, I notice how the door is standing open. It reminded me of the Grady police car when they were kidnapping the officers for the exchange. The driver's car door was left open.

That car also had the same tag as the truck and as the vehicle that took Beth away. This car does not have the trunk open. You can barely see it but to the far left, the tarp has been pulled off because it had been covered/ hidden. if you look through the window, there is something leaning against the wall that could possibly be a trunk cover that had been taken off, but I do not know that for a fact.

Ever so slightly out of view in the shot to the left, just past the car, is a red fire extinguisher. We see it several times during the scene of Daryl with it in the. I love how all these things tie together to symbolically represent Beth. I feel it’s very important after seeing the "W".

Daryl's trash bag is something that's been discussed an awful lot. A question though: have we ever talked about the red object just above the AMC logo? Do we know what it is, other than a red symbol? Because I do have a theory of what it could be. I used to have something similar. When I was a little girl, I had a drinking glass but it was made of plastic and it folded down with a closed top. You opened it and raised different plastic folds up and it made a drinking glass.

We get to see the "W" sign before Daryl enters the garage and just as he leaves. Just as with Glenn, he was searching for and eventually found Maggie. I think the "W" also represents that Daryl will search much longer but he will eventually find Beth.

We see 2 happy reunions between Glenn and Maggie, one in this episode then one at AZ after the wolf attack. The 3rd reunion is with the Saviors in the open field when they are brought together (6x16). That reunion was not a happy one as it ended with Glenn's death.

Daryl and Beth had a reunion at Grady but it ended sadly. We do not know if there was another reunion, a second one that we just haven't seen, but eventually I think a 3rd reunion will be their final reunion and will be a happy one. Maybe that's what the 3's represent.

I hope you found something interesting about this. Nothing earth-shattering. We've talked about this episode so many times. It's so different to watch these early episodes when we're at the end of S10 and have figured out a lot of the symbols that we were clueless about in earlier seasons.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

I really liked your discussion of the Ws. I’m not sure we have talked about the one behind Glenn before. I don’t know that I’ve ever noticed it. If I did, I think I just subconsciously decided it was the same one near Daryl or something. I’ll have to think about this more, but I totally agree with your interpretation about Wolves and Whisperers. I also like your discussion of the truck and the Lincoln. All of this just backs up the idea that S4 was one big foreshadow. So, I was thinking that the Lincoln obviously represents Beth and the truck, Denise. And Daryl lost them both in some way. But what does this scene lead to? It leads to Lenny’s death, right? So, I have two possible thoughts on what that sequence might foreshadow. On the one hand, Lennie is something of a foil to Daryl. He’s a jerk, possibly a sexual predator (his “little ‘uns” comment) and quite frankly, a punk and a douchebag.

And while Daryl has a history (in earlier seasons) of getting in people’s faces, we all know that at heart he’s none of those things. So I wonder if Lennie’s death represents Daryl “killing” the negative side of him emotionally. In fact, it’s not until after Lennie dies and we learn that Daryl was going to leave the Claimers that he finds Rick and Michonne again. So not until after he makes emotionally positive choices does he get the reunion. In terms of it being paid off, we’ve seen him not only being depressed in past seasons but in S8 he was pretty homicidal, killing people right and left. Now, he’s parenting Lydia and taking on leadership, so we’ve seen him shed that negative emotional side of himself. So, just another way of saying that the “reunion” is right on top of us. The other option I’m seeing is that Lenny May be a foreshadow of Beta. There’s the rape angle again (the Whisperers have a rape culture in the CBs), the fact that Beta and Daryl have had personal conflicts with one another, and we’ve definitely seen ways in which they’ve made Beta a foil to Daryl.

So maybe Lennie represents Daryl finally killing Beta and as you said, there’s a W in the background. So maybe after Beta’s death or perhaps in conjunction with it, we’ll see Daryl’s reunion with Beth. Anyway, those are my stray thoughts. Really love your rewatch!

@frangipanilove:

I enjoyed reading your rewatch summaries! I looked into the car from the Denise scene, and I don’t think it’s the same car. But in my opinion, that doesn’t really make the comparison any less interesting. The cars look similar, and there was so much symbolism in the Denise scene that ties it to Beth. For instance, they had to stop because of a tree blocking the road and there was alcohol etc. I loved your take on the open tailgate on the truck from “us”. Totally agree, it counts as an open trunk. There’s a lot of symbolism hidden in plain sight in that garage scene from “Us”.

I’m also intrigued with the discussion of Lennie as a Daryl foil. Foil means “sort of same, but opposite” right? I remember Daryl getting drunk on Southern Comfort in S1. And in s4 we get Lennie who wears a jacket with the text “Southern Discomfort” and the Confederate flag on his back. I don’t have an elaborate analysis on it, but it’s something that always stood out to me. It seemed intentional.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Yes, @Frangi, foil basically means opposite but with specific touch point similarities. And the traits in one emphasize the opposite traits in another. So, we talked about this with Beth and Alpha. Obviously, Beth is good and Alpha is evil, and that’s how they’re opposites. But Alpha is opposite in that way to all good characters (Rick, Michonne, Daryl, etc). But we saw specific similarities between her and Beth, such as an emphasis on child and baby care. The way in which Alpha was abusive and, you know, left babies in the field to be walker chow, emphasized Beth’s goodness, protectiveness and nurturing nature. So while Alpha is the opposite to other characters, she’s a foil to Beth. They put in similarities between Daryl and Lennie and Daryl and Beta, even though in each case one is good and one is evil. Sort of like anti-parallels. That’s what makes them foils.

Hope you all found some value in this discussion. These rewatches don’t always yield super-groundbreaking stuff, but it’s fun not go back and see how these symbols have been there all along. It just reinforces that our current theories are on the right track.

Thanks to @wdway for doing the re-watch for us!

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

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stingerpicnic · 6 years ago

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your smile brings sunshine/your tears bring rain (you're my whole world)

based on this post

read on AO3

Relationship: Mumintrollet | Moomintroll/Snusmumriken | Snufkin

Characters: Mumintrollet | Moomintroll, Snusmumriken | Snufkin

Additional Tags: Fluff, Maybe a little angst, its really not that angsty actually, Established Relationship, Purring, im HERE for some cat snufkin content alright, moomin being his sweet self, flustered snufkin

He was doing it again.

He really wished Snufkin wouldn’t do this. They had been having such a nice time, too. Leaning against each other, tails hooked and paws held between them as they waited for fish to bite. It was a perfect autumn day. But Moomin felt the soft line of pressure on his side become harder as the minutes went by, the tail entwined with his growing restless. With every cool breeze that blew past them he could feel the pressure get just a little harder, a little more tense.

Still, he wasn’t going to bring it up himself. It was always best to let Snufkin take things at his own pace. He might be ready to do a great many things at a moments notice, especially where Snufkin was concerned, but Snufkin so often wasn’t. And the last thing Moomin wanted to do was trap him in a situation he wasn’t ready to deal with. Snufkin would speak when he was ready.

Moomin felt he had an idea what this was about, anyways. Just a couple years ago it would have been him in Snufkin’s position, but he felt so much more secure in their relationship now. Snufkin would come back in the spring and he really did need his winter journey. Moomin could see the difference it made when he returned in the spring. A certain tightness would begin building behind the mumrik’s eyes as autumn passed until the moment he left on his journey and it would have vanished by the time he returned.

So, Moomin understood that Snufkin had to have to leave him for the winter, he really did, even if it still made him a little sad to think about. Snufkin was obviously not ready to try staying through winter. Maybe he never would be. Which was fine, obviously. While Moomin would absolutely adore having Snufkin to cuddle up to during his hibernation, there was a certain joy seeing him race through that last stretch of forest to greet him in the spring, of seeing that expression of joy and relief and love , that nothing else could quite replicate.

He just would have thought that Snufkin understood that.

“I’ll have to leave soon.” Evidently not, though, if the guilt buried beneath a half-formed attempt at a matter-of-fact monotone had anything to say about it.

Moomin hummed, tightening his hold on the paw in his own. Snufkin squeezed back, which is a good sign.

“I really do have go,” that sounded even more anxious. They were really going to have to sit down and have another talk about this. Moomin hated seeing him do this to himself over something he so obviously needed.

“I know,” he said, trying his best to keep his worry and frustration out of his voice, instead softening it with as much care and understanding as he could.

“Do you have any idea where you’ll go this year?” he asks instead of “You know you don’t have to feel bad about that, right?” or “Do you really believe it isn’t fair of you to need this now that we’re together? It’s fair. I promise. I understand. The added closeness doesn’t have to trap you. I know you’ll come back. It’s okay,” or even “You know I love you, don’t you? And that nothing could change that?” like he wants to. He’s asked those questions before and he knows their answers. He also knows asking them now will only make Snufkin feel more guilty.

“I don’t know. I suppose I’ll go wherever my feet take me. Maybe I’ll visit that town with the light festival I saw a couple years ago again, it was wonderful to see the first time and I got the feeling the presentation would be different every year. That might be interesting.”

For a while after that, Snufkin was quiet, staring at the calm water in front of them. But Moomin could tell he wasn’t done. There was a certain feel to the silence that told him so. The air isn’t sitting right for that to be it. The hard line of pressure against his side hasn’t softened, Snufkin’s tail is beginning to twitch against his in earnest, and a glance at his face confirms that the tightness hasn’t lessened any.

Then, Snufkin pulls away, untangling them from each other, putting some distance between them. He doesn’t stand up, he’s not quite that worked up yet, but Moomin notes that his tail is well and truly thrashing now. He searches for his eyes and finds them already staring pleadingly into his, not avoiding his gaze at all. And while Moomin could stare into those beautiful eyes forever, seeing the full brunt of the distress on his face is not as fun.

Oh, honey , he thinks, you’ve really worked yourself into a right fit about this, haven’t you. Really, this isn’t what he’d meant when he’d said he wished Snufkin would talk to him about things. He had hoped it make him bring things up before it got this bad. They’d really have to talk about this later when they were both feeling more level headed.

He just hoped that it might stick this time. But if it doesn’t, he’ll do it again, and again, and again. He’ll tell Snufkin that he loves him, that he understands, that it’s okay he has needs he needs to be alone to fill until the mumrik believes him. And he’ll continue to do so even after that, because it’ll never stop being true.

It’s what Snufkin did for him, anyways, when his insecurities about their parting, about the possibility of him forcing Snufkin into something he doesn’t want, of making him feel stifled and trapped, reared their ugly heads. It was what you did when you loved someone. You told them so every day until they believed it and then you kept doing it.

It was a little ironic that they’d switched roles here, though.

“I have to leave, I have to see the world!” Snufkin was speaking again, but Moomin felt the words were less for him and more for Snufkin himself, somehow. “The world is so so big and it’ll only feel like I’m wasting it if I stay in one place all the time. Please understand, Moomintroll,” there was a hint of quiet desperation in his voice that broke Moomin’s heart to hear.

He had to think of something to say soon. Fortunately, he thinks that Snufkin just gave him the perfect opening.

As casually as possible, he says, “Oh, the world can’t be that big.”

Snufkin blinks at him, momentarily thrown out of whatever torrent of repressed emotion that had been raging inside his head by the sheer unexpectedness of such a response. “...What?” he asks like someone who’s read the same book a thousand times only to find another copy that read differently.

“Well, you know, it can’t be that big. I’d say it’s surprisingly small, actually, after hearing all the times you’ve gone on about how big it is” he says.

“...You only say that because you’ve seen so little of it,” Snufkin says, the words dragging out of him like he’s not entirely sure it’s wise to say them but still curious as to where he’s going with this. Oh, he can tell that Moomin is up to something with this line of conversation. He probably thinks he’ll ask to join him on his travels again.

Moomin hums a dissenting note. “ I’ve seen enough to know it’s beautiful and lovely and wonderful. It’s full to bursting of so many good, lovely things and still, surprisingly, small enough that I can fit the whole of it in my paws.” Gosh, he sounds soft to his own ears saying that, like melted chocolate and plush pillows. He finds it appropriate.

Snufkin looks even more confused now, face scrunching up in a way Moomin can’t help but think is adorable. But he looks like he’s about to protest, so Moomin decides to get on with it, carefully reaching over and cupping Snufkin’s face in his paws like he’s the most precious thing in the world, because he is.

“There, see? It fits perfectly.”

Snufkin’s eyes widen, mouth dropping open. His face just keeps getting redder as the seconds tick by. Moomin can feel the heat of his blush through his fur and he quietly thinks that a flustered Snufkin is also an adorable Snufkin. He should really do things like this more often. It’s been such a good distraction technique so far, too.

“...Moomintroll…” Snufkin whispers, sounding awestruck and quite like he’d like to pull his hat down over his face right about now. But he doesn’t, he continues looking back at him, refusing to hide from this, from him.

Instead, slowly, Snufkin’s paws come up to cover his own, like he’s been given something unbelievably fragile. He’s staring up into Moomin’s eyes like he’s the most wonderful thing he’s ever seen, like Moomin hung the stars in the sky for him to admire, like he’s lovestruck, and it makes warmth bloom in Moomin’s chest. It’s so much he feels like he might burst. He’d very much like to kiss him right now, he thinks.

So he does. He softly presses his snout into Snufkin’s forehead, knocking his ha askew in the process, because he can think of nothing sweeter than forehead kisses and he finds that appropriate. Snufkin deserves nothing but the sweetest things the world has to offer. He feels Snufkin’s temperature raise another degree. He’d be worried if he didn’t know it was just a blush, but nothing bad could possibly be accompanied by the loud purring that erupts from Snufkin’s chest, anyways. As it is, he’s pretty proud of himself.

When he pulls back, he sees something move out of the corner of his eye. “It looks like we got a bite, Snufkin!” he says, carefully pulling his paws out of his hold and managing to sound at least mostly normal.

Snufkin, though, is still frozen in place, purring loudly with wide eyes and a red face, while Moomin moves off to calmly reel in their lines and place the their latest catch in the bucket they’d brought along.

“I think we’ve caught enough fish for today,” Moomin says, glancing at the bucket.

He walks over to Snufkin, holding his paw out to help him up, “How about we head back and make ourselves a meal?”

“...Yeah, sure, sounds good,” is the dazed response he gets, but Snufkin paw closes around his own and pretty soon they’ve cleaned up and are walking back home with paws clasped, so Moomin counts the day as a success.The purring he doesn’t stop hearing for the rest of the day lets him know he’s done something right, anyhow. Even if he doesn’t see Snufkin’s face again for the next several hours due to a certain green hat.

They’d have that talk a little later, but they would have it, so help him.

#snufmin #snufkin #moomin #My writing #......soft

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the-quiet-winds · 5 years ago

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Don’t Look Back at this Crumbling Fool (part four)

here is the conclusion you all have been dying for.

also, @ichlugebulletsandcornnuts and i have been talking and there may or may not be a new au posted tomorrow? we shall see how the cards fall, but the au is fun.

[part one] - [part two] - [part three]

trigger warning for hateful words and self-deprecation

[Part 4: Feels Like We’re Oceans Apart]

the two re-enter the room where jane is still bundled up on the bed. boleyn bounds forwards and begins pulling various blankets off her.

“c’mon, jane,” she says cheerfully. “wakey wakey.”

katherine takes a slightly softer approach, placing a hand on jane’s cheek and smiling gently at her.

“hey mum. i think it’s time to get up now.”

jane doesn’t react at first, then something stirs as she wordlessly and emotionlessly gets to her feet. she stands absently, letting katherine and boleyn pull her towards the bathroom, where they tag-team getting her hair sorted out and her makeup off. she feels like an observer in her own narrative, unreactive and docile.

katherine and boleyn work quietly, each apparently lost in their own thoughts on the situation. katherine carefully brushes through jane’s hair, slowly and methodically, trying to replicate the same soothing motions jane provides when she brushes katherine’s hair. she’s not sure it helps though; jane looks in almost a different reality to the other two in that moment, and katherine can only hope that whatever parr has planned will pay off.

boleyn expects a long and hard-fought battle to get jane to the theater that night, but she shuffles her feet along in silence as they make their way to the lobby to wait for the taxi to the theater. as they wait, katherine gets a call from parr.

"katherine are you alone?"

the urgency in parr's voice makes her step away from boleyn and jane. "i am now, what's up?"

"let boleyn take jane to the theater, we're coming to get you."

"i won't leave her!" katherine quietly protests.

she hears parr let out a tiny breath and then her voice softens. "it'll be worth it, kid. i promise."

boleyn is a bit uncomfortable with the change of plans, since she and jane always had a weird relationship (less of a mother-daughter, more of an estranged aunt-party niece type of things), but with jane acting like this, it feels even weirder. finally, she relents. she and jane drive off towards the theater, and aragon pulls the car up moments later, the entire back of which is laden with carnations and roses, jane's favorite types of flowers.

katherine looks at the flowers as she climbs into the car. “what are those for?”

“you’ll see,” aragon says, pulling back out into the road and beginning the journey to the theatre. “how was she?”

“not good,” katherine says quietly, looking down at her hands. “she wasn’t even angry or upset, it was just- nothing.”

“the important thing is that she’s on her way to the theatre,” aragon nods. she catches katherine’s gaze in the wing mirror and gives her a reassuring smile. “don’t worry, howard. this is all gonna work out.”

as they drive to the theater, katherine absentmindedly scrolls through her social media. it only takes a few minutes for her to find parr’s post, something about “jane night!”, imploring all fans to wear white to the show and stop by early to pick up a flower and a notecard to write about their own “hearts of stone”.

“parr...this is...this is brilliant!”

“you think so?” parr asks, the twitch of a slightly proud smile on the corners of her lips. “i’m hoping it’s just what jane needs to see to remind her of how loved she is by all the fans. and by us, of course.”

a small, hopeful smile grows on katherine’s face. “this really could work,” she murmurs, more to herself than to the other two.

they arrive at the theatre soon afterwards. parr gestured at the flowers with a nod of her head. “c’mon, we’ve got to get all these inside the foyer.”

grace comes racing out to the car as soon as they stop to help. each girl takes a bundle of flowers into the lobby of the theater, where grace’s homemade “jane night!” sign is waiting. luckily, boleyn and jane had entered in the stage door so everything seemed completely ordinary.

“she really needs this, huh,” says grace, playing with a flower and looking at the sign. “i saw her when she came in.” she shudders. “like a ghost.”

parr gives a solemn nod. “i’m just hoping that this’ll get through to her and pull her out of this state she’s in.” she places a box of notecards neatly next to the flowers before glancing back at aragon. “do you have the pens?” she asks, and aragon nods, placing her armful of flowers down and revealing the packet of pens underneath. parr looks over at katherine with a soft smile.

“would you like to write one, katherine?”

katherine nods slowly, yet earnestly. she takes a pen and a notecard and writes, in the best handwriting she can muster, a heartfelt note to her mum, telling her just how important and loved she is. by the time she’s done, she’s in near tears, and she’s brought back to the room around her when every other queen, including boleyn, was doing the same, as well as all the band members and even the stage director.

“this will help, kid,” parr says reassuringly, seeing katherine’s emotional response to the tribute. “trust me.”

katherine can only nod, voice caught in her throat and eyes watery. parr gives her a kind look.

“it’s probably almost time to get ready for the show. you go on, i’ll catch you up in a moment.”

katherine gives parr a weak smile and heads into the backstage area, heart slowly beginning to beat faster with nervousness. she hopes beyond all hopes that parr’s plan will work, and she thinks that it will, but there’s always a chance it wouldn’t go to plan. she shakes her head to clear it; she couldn’t be thinking like that right now.

when katherine enters the dressing room, the sight of her mum makes her gasp.

jane is sitting on the tiny couch in the dressing room, staring at the floor, shoulders slumped in, in absolute silence. it’s unnerving to katherine how unresponsive she is, even when katherine, against her better judgement, steps over and lightly kisses the top of her mum’s head. there’s no recognition. no movement to reach out to her, no shift amongst the cushions, not even a low hum in her throat.

katherine, still fighting tears, sits down at her mirror, next to the still broken one, and begins to fix herself up for the show.

she looks up at the sound of footsteps outside, and sees grace in her costume giving her a thumbs up. with a nod from katherine, grace heads to the stage, ready to enact a plan to hopefully save jane from...whatever it was that was making her like this.

jane’s mind seems like it’s in a fog, not really being aware of anything going on around her. she was vaguely aware of being led from place to place before finally being seated, but she couldn’t even begin to tell where she was or even who led her. the world around her is abstract shapes, nothing coming into focus or making anything more than a light impression.

katherine finishes getting ready as quickly as possible, blinking back the tears so they don’t ruin her mascara. she sends look after hopeless look at jane, desperately wishing for anything; a moment of recognition, any kind of reaction, just anything.

when the time came for the curtain to rise, jane had not sung any warm ups or even stretched, but none of that even mattered.

the only thing that catches her eyes when she turns around during the first number is that almost every audience member is wearing white. there are a few posters littered around the back of the stalls that she can see, even in the low light, all with some form of ‘heart of stone’ or ‘jane seymour!’ written in massive block letters surrounded by hearts. something snaps within her, her voice coming to life and muscles screaming into existence as she dances and sings like she hadn’t before, a new and raw emotion in her voice like never before.

the other queens send each other thrilled looks; jane was back. katherine can’t keep the grin off her face as jane throws herself into the performance, and her heart practically skips a beat when jane catches her gaze and gives her a quick wink, before returning to the performance. they all dance and sing even better than ever, their energy revitalised by jane’s revival.

as aragon and boleyn’s song pass, katherine can’t help but wonder what will come from jane’s song. her lines have been full of a deep and unnamable emotion all night, but all that clears from her mind when jane begins to sing.

her voice sounds angelic to katherine. every line filled with more pain than the last, bringing tears to every queen’s eye.

by the time it was over, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house, and the audience was screaming themselves hoarse.

once the audience finally quietens, cleves steps forward to begin her monologue and the other queens leave to grab their ruffs and sunglasses. the second they step backstage katherine flies into jane’s arms, hugging her tightly.

“that was beautiful,” she half-sobs.

jane is startled by the sudden impact of her daughter in her arms, but hugs her back with twice the ferocity.

“oh, my darling, i’m sorry for how i acted.” she pulls back, holding katherine’s face in both hands. “how could i ever think of leaving you?” she kisses her cheek, then pulls away. she truly never wanted the moment to end, but they have a show to finish. she puts kat’s sunglasses on for her. “let’s get them,” she whispers with a half-laugh.

the rest of the show goes amazingly. everyone performs at the top of their game, and when it’s time for the bows the audience are on their feet screaming and cheering.

parr takes the mic and waits for the audience to calm down before speaking. “hello, everybody! i hope you all enjoyed the show-” she pauses as the audience applauds again. “tonight isn’t quite over yet, though. today we wanted to show our appreciation for a wonderful queen, and you all turned out for us. please, join us in a huge round of applause for jane!”

immediately, jane bursts into tears. the audience screams and cheers, all wearing white in solidarity, all throwing roses and carnations on stage. jane takes a moment to hug each of her cast members, even grace, who emerged from the backstage. then katherine walks up to her, hands clenched together with a slight air of nervousness. jane can’t contain herself and throws her arms around her daughter in a tight hug. with a voice so quiet it’s barely audible over the cheers, she speaks to katherine. “you are the only reason i’m still here, my one and only love. thank you.”

when she hears jane’s words katherine takes a sharp intake of breath, before hugging jane even tighter.

“i love you, mum,” she mumbles. jane presses a kiss to katherine’s forehead and smiles softly to herself. around them, the crowd still applauding, the other queens enveloped the two in a huge group hug, jane and katherine at the centre.

———————————————————————————————————–

tag list: @percabeth15 @kats-seymour @qualquercoisa945 @jane-fucking-seymour @a-slightly-cracked-egg @justqueentingz @annabanana2401 @wolfies-chew-toy @broad-way-13 @tvandmusicals @lailaliquorice @aimieallenatkinson@sweet-child-why03 @gaylinda-of-the-upper-uplands @funky-lesbians @thinkaboutitmaybe @hansholbeingoesaroundzeworld@anaamess @beeskneeshuh @prick-up-ur-ears @theartoflazy@justqueentwo @brother-orion @paleshadowofadragon@lafemmestars @beautifulashes17 @janeriarichardnoel@idkimbadwithusernamesandstuff @sixcago @mixer1323 @boleynssixthfinger @aimieallen @elphiesdance @boleynthebunny @krystalhuntress @lupin-loves-chocolate @bellacardoza16 (some of these still aren’t working and i don’t know why)

#six the musical #six musical #katherine howard #anne boleyn #jane seymour #catherine parr #catherine of aragon #anne of cleves #julie and jess write #don't look back at this crumbling fool

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