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commonwealthoccurences · 4 years ago

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Let It Snow

Word Count: 1,580

Prompt: Snowed In

Day: 07/27

The morning air held a chill that wasn’t there when Curie and Sole went to bed; it pierced the layers of blankets they’d piled over their bodies and turned Curie’s nose red. Sole shifted in discomfort, reluctant to rise from what warmth they were provided by Curie’s body heat, her body wrapped in theirs, legs tangled together, their head resting on her chest. However, the need to light a fire was too pressing, and they untangled themself from her carefully to peel back the blankets, rewrap her in them, and crawl out of bed.

They shivered violently as they crossed the room, but paused and went still when they looked outside. It had snowed. Not only had it snowed, it had snowed so much that their door was nearly covered completely. They were stuck indoors.

Sole rubbed their arms vigorously as they continued across the room and leaned down to light a fire. The logs smoldered at first, barely noticeable, before tiny flames leaped up and began dancing across the dry wood and scraps of paper. Then, they grew larger. Satisfied, Sole straightened up and quickly returned to their bedside, crawling in as carefully as they could so as not to disturb Curie.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work, as Curie was a light sleeper. Just as they settled back into the mattress, shivering at the way the blankets had already chilled in the time they were gone, Curie’s eyes blinked open sleepily and she shifted slowly. She struggled to let her eyes adjust to what seemed like a ridiculous amount of light, the details for the morning bleary in her sleep-coated gaze. After a moment her eyes finally focused on their face and her expression lit up with warmth. “Good morning, my love.”

Sole reached out and pulled her closer, pressing a sleepy kiss to her forehead. “Morning. I hope you’re prepared to be lazy for a little while. We’ve been snowed in and until someone can get to shoveling our door, we’re trapped in here.”

“Oh, mon dieu. Whatever will we do, unable to work.” Curie stretched out her arms with a pleased grin, her tone bleeding sarcasm.

Sole laughed quietly before rolling closer to Curie and propping themself up on one elbow to look down at her. They smoothed some of her short hairs out of her face and brushed a thumb against her temple, content to simply admire her in the morning light, silently thanking the way the sun reflected off the snow and cast a spotlight on her face. She blinked up at them. “Should we get breakfast?” She asked quietly.

They responded with a noncommittal hum. Sure, breakfast would be nice, but it was so much better to simply lounge in bed for the first time in as long as they could remember, wrapped up in blankets with her. She brought her hands up, tenting the blanket slightly and letting the cold air flood in, before she snuck her hands under their shirt and pressed them against Sole’s warm back. Sole shuddered at the feeling of her ice-cold skin and gave her a playful dirty look. “Curie you’re gonna let me freeze to death.” They pouted before leaning down to peck her on the lips.

Curie laughed and wrapped her arms around them tighter, pulling them down against her chest where they buried their cold nose against her neck. She squeaked quietly as a shiver ran down her spine. Karma, she supposed. “We really should go make breakfast.” She mumbled against their shoulder.

Sole groaned in disagreement and snuggled deeper against her calm form, relaxing their full body weight on top of her. She laughed again, shaking both of them as she rolled her eyes at their antics. Curie looked to her side and saw that the window had already fogged up from the contrast in temperature. With a soft sigh she rolled over, taking Sole with her and turning the tables as she dumped them on their side of the bed with the momentum. They let out a quiet, “Umf.” and simply laid where she left them.

Reluctant, but ready to start her day, Curie peeled back the covers and tossed her half over Sole’s body before pushing herself out of bed. She picked her cardigan up from where she had left it neatly folded on her nightstand and shook it out before pulling it over her already-shivering body. The fire was just getting started with heating up the house, and she knew she’d be cold for at least the next half hour.

Sole simply watched as Curie made her way around the room and did her usual morning routine. She watered the herb that sat in it’s pot on the windowsill and pulled back the curtains, musing over what they would do later in the day. She pushed a stray pair of socks towards the hamper Sole had just woven recently and leaned down to pat Dogmeat’s head, where he lay in his cushioned bed at the foot of theirs.

God, Sole loved her. It was obvious, they knew, from the way they looked at her, no ounce of self restraint in their expression; from the moment they’d met they stared at her like she hung the stars in the sky. They weren’t self conscious or embarrassed about it, either. Instead, whenever someone would try to tease them about it, they would simply grin and embrace the teasing, agreeing readily when people told them they were head over heels. Even if they were embarrassed it would be worth it to see the way Curie grinned in response to the confidence in their replies. Their confidence in the way they loved her.

They sighed quietly to themself when she finally left the room, presumably to go make the breakfast she was so determined to get ahold of. Really, they couldn’t blame her. It had been a late night and she probably needed some sort of sustenance. After complaining out loud to Dogmeat that the world was unfair to be so cold and still force them out of bed, they rolled over and emerged once again from the blankets.

When they left the room and entered their small kitchen, Curie was already at the stove mixing a sugar syrup, razorgrain flour, and part of a Mirelurk egg to make pancakes. She’d picked up converting pre-War recipes to post-War alternatives after a few long conversations with Sole about how they missed some of the food they could no longer get ahold of. Their heart swelled at the sight; the effort she put in, the way she loved them both through her words and actions. They could never get enough.

Curie turned when she heard their footsteps and smiled at them before turning back to the skillet coated in bubbling Brahmin butter. Sole didn’t hesitate for another moment to join her, coming up behind her to wrap their arms around her waist and hide their face between her shoulder blades. She let out a quiet laugh, shaking slightly in their arms, and poured some of the batter in the skillet. “Are you hungry?” She asked.

“Mhm.” Sole responded, pressing a kiss to the back of her neck before moving to stand beside her.

The top of the window was the only uncovered area, leaving just enough room for them to peek out to the outside world. Curie followed their gaze to the snow-coated Commonwealth and leaned against them, letting the pancake bubble by itself, the smell filling the room. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I never thought I would see something like this, all that time I was in the lab.”

Sole beamed. There was something special about witnessing Curie’s firsts ever since she made it out of the lab. The first time she tried food in her synth body, the first time she felt the sun on her skin, the first time she kissed Sole. It was something they could never take for granted, and this was the first time she’d seen snow stick to the ground, much less been snowed in.

“Hmm. Maybe in a couple days it’ll have melted enough and we can go out in it.”

Curie tilted her head curiously, thinking to herself. Sole could practically see the gears turning in her head as she debated whether or not that was a good idea. Sure, the cold and the wet was a downside, but her scientific curiosity almost always got the best of her, and maybe Sole was counting on that. They couldn’t wait to see how she reacted to a snowball fight between her and Preston.

The pancakes were fixed rather quickly and they settled at their small kitchen table to eat. It was peaceful in a way that was so strange to embrace. Not out of a dislike for the calm, but out of a wariness; the wasteland was never so kind as to give them a day off, much less time to have breakfast together. Like a family. And as Dogmeat trotted sleepily out of the room to join them at their feet, hoping for scraps and a lazy time waking up, Sole smiled to themself. They had a family again. “Ooh, once we clean up breakfast we can go try painting. We’ve never had the time, but it seems the stars have aligned for us this time.” Curie looked at them and beamed.

Yes, the stars had definitely aligned for them to have met Curie. They nodded. “That sounds amazing.”

#Fallout 4 #Fo4 #Fallout 4 February #Fo4f #Curie #Fluff #Domestic fluff #Oneshot #Imagine

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always-andshewrites · 4 years ago

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Another Way Out - Chapter 2 “Sneak Peek”

Hey guys, I thought I’d give a little sneak peek into Chapter 2. I am also still looking for a beta/or anyone wanting/willing to pre-read for me. Just a heads up, so far my chapters have been MASSIVE, coming in at around 13-15,000 words. So any help would be greatly, greatly appreciated!!! Here you go....

| Katniss |

“Katniss, Kat, wake up.” I hear Peeta’s voice before I’m fully awake and slowly open my eyes. Except when I open my eyes, everything is pitch black and there is something covering my face. When I reach up to remove whatever is blocking my sight, Peeta gently places his hands reassuringly on top of mine.

“What the— why can’t I see anything?” I demand, tensing up at my sudden blindness.

“Good morning beautiful.” He says, placing a kiss to my cheek and then pulling me into his arms for a moment.

“It’s a surprise.” He whispers into my ear with one hand on my back, the other pulling on my arm as he helps me to a sitting position. I have never been the kind of person that enjoys surprises; I like to know everything.

“I don’t like being left in the dark; pun intended.” I scowl, unsure if he can see it because of the blindfold that’s covering my face, as well as not knowing how much light is in the room. I know today is tour day, and who knows what surprises it has in store for me, so I’m not sure I can handle anything extra. Not to mention that the inability to see takes me back to the arena, back to the tornado. Back to when the gamemaker’s distorted our sight, blinding us all. Back to when they tried to get us to kill each other.

“You’ll like this one, I promise. Just . . . trust me. You do trust me, right?”

“You know I do.” I tell him, fighting the smile that is forming on my lips.

“What time is it anyway?” I ask as Peeta guides me through the house and down the stairs. With the blindfold securely over my eyes, Peeta has helped me get dressed. Once it became clear that the blindfold was more trouble than it was worth, Peeta finally allowed me to remove it, but only in the bathroom.

Thankful for the absence of the blindfold, I take my time in the bathroom. I do my business, wash my hands and face and then brush my teeth. All the while, wondering what Peeta has up his sleeve. As soon as I open the door, Peeta is waiting for me with that damn blindfold in his hand. He secures it around my eyes, folding it in a knot at the back of my head.

“Is this really necessary?” I snap at him, scowling once more.

“Katniss, I promise you’re going to love it.” He trills. How someone can be so chipper this early in the morning is beyond me.

“What time is it anyway?” I ask, conceding to the fact that he intends to keep me blind until he shows me this “surprise.”

“Really early. Sun’s not even up yet.” He informs me, helping me get my jacket and boots on and then leads us out the door.

Peeta interlocks our arms together once we pass through the front door, never releasing me from his grip. Together, we stomp through the foot of snow that covers the ground, making our way to Peeta’s surprise. Using my remaining senses, I intuit that we are headed into the woods. Or maybe it’s the meadow, I can’t be certain without my sight.

Finally, after what feels like an hour of walking through the snow, Peeta pulls me backwards into his arms and gently removes the blindfold. Even though I complained about not being able to see from the moment I woke up, I keep my eyes closed for another moment, inhaling the sounds of mother nature. I pick up the sounds of tree branches scraping against each other from the force of the wind; the scampering of chipmunks racing up a tree as they hop from one spot to another. I hear the symphony of birds chirping their morning melody, signaling the start of a new day. The mockingjay’s are not far away, mimicking the bird’s song, and then there is something else that is slightly out of place. Something that is not of mother nature’s doing. It sounds like . . . like the crackling of a fire?

The anticipation is driving me mad, so I slowly open one eye, and sure enough we are in a small clearing in the meadow, surrounded by trees. Peeta has prepared a picnic, surrounding us in my favorite things. Trees, nature and him.

The entire district is covered in a blanket of white, minus this one tiny spot in front of me where Peeta has shoveled the snow into a heaping pile. He must have done this days ago, allowing the sun to soak up any remnants that he was unable to scrape away because the ground isn’t even wet.

There is a blanket spread on the ground for us to sit on, as well as an additional blanket to cover up with. Less than a foot away, he has built a small fire to keep us warm, which means he must have woken up hours ago, made the trek out here to start the fire and then walked all the way back home to wake me up and bring me out here. Now, I feel guilty for giving him such a hard time this morning.

I turn around to face him, my eyes filled with tears at his thoughtfulness and wrap my arms around his neck. “PEETA! When did you— how did— oh my god Peeta, this is incredible, it’s just . . . it’s amazing!” My mind is blown at his creativity, at his thoughtfulness. He has transformed a day I have been dreading for months into something . . . better. No matter what happens for the rest of the day, I will always remember the incredible way it began.

“I just thought it would be nice for us to get away from everything. You know, spend a quiet day in the meadow, with just the two of us before we are bombarded by our prep teams and . . . everything.” His cheeks pinken, and from the way he’s looking at the ground I know it has nothing to do with the frigid temperatures. A smile forms on my lips at the thought of a bashful Peeta.

He kneels onto the blanket, lifting the lid to the picnic basket and pulls out a plate and two cups. Then he looks up at me, extending his arm, his eyes twinkling with the setting moon. “Come have some breakfast with me.” He urges, inviting me down to him.

He doesn’t have to ask me twice as I drop down next to him, joining him on the blanket. We feast on all my favorites; strawberries, oranges, and somehow, he even managed to acquire some grapes. Where did he even get all of this from; and better yet, when? I have to give him credit, I never knew he could be so duplicitous.

I wonder if all the secret phone calls with Effie was actually him scheming to create this perfect date for us. Normally, he orders what we need from our local grocer; I know it’s only to give him business, but all this food . . . it couldn’t have come from anywhere but the Capitol.

“Oh my gosh Peeta, this is delicious!” I moan with a mouthful of oranges, sighing with pleasure from the tart, juicy fruit in my mouth. His eyes meet mine and they darken slightly, before a mischievous glint appears in his eye. Maybe it’s not mischievous, but more like . . . seductive. Whatever it is, I like it.

Before I know it, he pounces on top of me, pinning me to the ground. He intertwines his fingers with mine; trapping my hands above my head. He leans down to kiss me, dipping his tongue into my mouth.

“Mmm . . . you’re right. Mouthwatering—” He says, suckling on my lower lip, “Scrumptious, absolutely—” He leans down again, giving me another kiss, “—insatiable—” Forgetting altogether about the delectable food, I lock my arms around his neck and savor his lips. Vulnerable to my kisses, I wait for the perfect moment to flip us over so that he is the one pinned to the ground. Straddling his hips, I never break our connection and cherish this moment, wishing with all my might it never had to end.

Finally, we come up for air, never breaking our gaze. The love in Peeta’s eyes is so prevalent, I think I could stare into his striking blue eyes for the rest of time and be completely satiated. His hand reaches up to tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear. “I love you Katniss.” He tells me with so much sentiment that I can literally feel the love emanating from his pores. It is in this moment that I know; without a doubt how absolutely, completely, irrevocably I am in love with this boy.

His eyes sparkle under the moonlight when he looks at me. Looking at me, no— into me, as if he has a direct link into my soul. He looks at me like I am the most beautiful thing in the world to him and I love it.

Eventually, I slide off his hips and curl my body next to his. I rest my head on his chest, listening to the steady sound of his thrumming heart. It is the sound I fall asleep to each night and it quite possibly could be my most favorite sound in the world.

We lie here for a while, watching the miracle of another sunrise bleed its beautiful array of colors into the sky, as it does every other day. Except today is not like the others, today is tour day.

A shudder runs through me when I suddenly get a flashback of the other night. When Peeta and I were kissing, and it just wasn’t enough anymore. My conversation with Madge comes to the forefront of my mind when I remember the want I felt.

Peeta and I wanted— no, we needed more as we explored each other’s body’s more intricately than we ever have before. There was a time when simply being in Peeta’s arms and kissing each other was enough, but now; I always feel like I need more. It’s like no matter how close I curl into him, no matter how much of our skin is touching, it’s just never enough. I think about needing him inside of me, wondering if that would be enough. Would it satisfy that hunger?

I begin lightly trailing my fingertips along Peeta’s abdomen and instantly feel the goosebumps appear on his skin.

“Stop . . . you know what that does to me.” He sighs, shivering before he begins to supply me with my own form of torture and begins trailing kisses down my neck until he reaches my collar bone, sending a shiver coursing through me.

My body is filled with electricity for Peeta which sends my mind back to the last time it felt that way; when Haymitch barged into Peeta’s house and caught us in a compromising position. I am so glad we are out here alone, with no Haymitch to interrupt us. Oh god, Haymitch!

“OH CRAP! Haymitch!” I yell out, my eyes opening to see the sun perfectly straight up in the sky, meaning it is getting close to noon.

“You’re kidding, right? You’re thinking about Haymitch right now?” Peeta groans, giving me those sad, pathetic eyes and pouting his lip. He reaches out to pull me closer to him.

“No Peeta,” I begin, removing his hands from underneath my shirt. “—he said not to let him oversleep. Come on, we need to go wake him up.” I sit up, scooting away from Peeta. I know that if I do not remove myself from his touch, I will be incapable of saying no for long and proceed to button my shirt back up and tame the stray hairs on my head back in place.

“I um, I’m going to need a minute.” Peeta tells me, shifting uncomfortable on the ground.

Embarrassed, I look anywhere else but at Peeta and simply nod. “Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll um . . . I’ll start packing up.” I say, thankful for something to do.

Peeta takes a few deep breaths and then he is by my side, helping me consolidate our remaining food. We throw some water on the fire and fold the blanket before heading towards Victor’s Village. While Peeta has mastered walking with his new leg on solid ground, making this trek in the snow is a challenge in itself and it takes us much longer than it normally would to get to Haymitch’s house.

Once we reach Haymitch’s front door, I brace myself for the putrid stench that normally fills his home. However, when we enter his house, I am surprised that it smells . . . clean. Or, well, cleaner than it usually is. I wonder if he hired someone to help him tidy up since he knows Effie is coming today. The clock above his stove reads 10:30, meaning we are not as late as I originally thought. He still has at least an hour before Effie arrives.

Haymitch is passed out at the kitchen table, as usual. He is snoring loud enough to rumble the house, and his head is hidden in the crook of his arm. Most likely, he passed out drunk earlier this morning. Even twenty-five years after his games, Haymitch still refuses to sleep in the dark. I probably would too, if I didn’t have Peeta. He is my light in the darkness.

“Haymitch, come on. Wake up Haymitch, it’s time.” Peeta says, gently nudging our near comatose mentor. Having been on the other end of waking Haymitch up from an alcohol induced slumber, I don’t even attempt to wake him up. Instead, I spot an empty cannister and grab it, making my way to the sink. I turn the faucet on and fill it slightly over halfway, leaving just enough room so that it doesn’t slosh around during the walk back to Haymitch.

‘Watch out.’ I tell Peeta, motioning for him to move out of the way. Slowly creeping next to Haymitch, I dump the entire contents of the cannister onto his head and quickly jump back, bracing myself for his swinging hands that are most likely clutching onto at least one knife.

“What the hell! Why am I all wet?” Haymitch grumbles once he spots Peeta and I in front of him.

“You said to wake you up; it’s tour day. Effie will be here in about an hour.”

“I said to wake me up, not give me pneumonia.” He scoffs, reaching for a towel to pat his face dry.

“Well, you’re awake now, so mission accomplished. I suggest you take a bath first—” I say, grabbing Peeta’s hand and making our way to the door. “—and you might want to clean up a little, you know how she is.” I finish, slamming the door behind us.

“I just did!” I hear him grumble from the other side of the door.

Peeta and I both look, first to my house, and then to his, not sure which one to go to first. Once our prep teams arrive, we will be separated until the cameras arrive, a moment I am dreading. I do not like it when Peeta and I are not together, but I absolutely detest it when we are forced apart.

However, when we turn our heads to Peeta’s house, there is a sleek, fancy black car that is most certainly from the Capitol camped out in his driveway; making our decision for us.

Tightening my grip on Peeta’s hand, we sprint over to his house, wondering who our guests are, yet something in my gut says I know exactly who it is.

#The Hunger Games #everlark #tour day #katniss everdeen #Peeta Mellark #haymitch abernathy #fluff

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tagsecretsanta · 4 years ago

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From @Psychoseal

to @avengedbiologist

Secret Santa does not own this work, full credit to the author above! The sun is blazing overhead. Even by tropical island standards it is hot.

“It is too hot to move” Gordon complains from his spot by the pool where he is lying on one of the loungers, wearing nothing but his tiniest speedos. Showing off his perfectly sculpted abs, there is a scar on his chest. A streak of white on his otherwise evenly tanned torso. Virgil has slathered him in sunscreen from head to toe to avoid him getting burned. Partly because he cares about him and mainly because he is cranky and irritable when he is in pain!

“Why don’t you go for a swim?” Kayo asks. She is on the lounger next to him, having just pulled herself up out of the water.

There is a jug of lemonade on the table in between the two loungers and Kayo pours herself a glass before choking on its bitter taste. “Ugh, that is disgusting. Who made it?” she asks.

“Alan” Gordon replies with a shrug.

“What did he put in it?”

“No idea, I wasn’t silly enough to try it” Gordon replies, poking his tongue out at her.

Kayo grins back at him and in one swift movement dumps the left-over lemonade on him before racing back into the house.

Gordon squeaks with indignity, but rather than chasing after her he dives back into the pool. Revenge is the last thing on his mind as he lets his anger wash over him in his happy place, and besides, it is Christmas Eve and he is in too good a mood to let anyone ruin it now.

He stays in the pool until his father comes out to get him. “Come on Squid there is food on the table and you need to have an early night. You know Father Christmas won’t come if you’re still awake!”

“Dad, I am not five years old!” Gordon reminds him.

“Do you want presents?” Jeff threatens with a smile.

Gordon doesn’t respond, instead he jumps up from the pool before grabbing his father and pulling him close for a hug.

“Gordon! You’re soaking” Jeff reminds him.

Gordon shakes the water from his head all over Jeff’s shirt.

“Never change Gords” Jeff says, as he struggles to free himself from his son’s vice like grip.

“Ooh pizza” Gordon announces, when he enters the kitchen ten minutes later, now fully dressed in a pair of light blue pyjamas and no shoes.

On the table are several pizzas neatly cut into slices. Steam rising up from the cheese and Gordon’s mouth is watering in anticipation. Reaching across Virgil, he grabs hold of the nearest pie and pulls it towards him. Taking two slices and mashing them together before shovelling it in whole, bits of stringy cheese are dripping down his chin. “H-h-hot!” he gasps.

“Do you regret that?” Scott asks.

Gordon glares at him, while he gulps down a glass of water. “Nope! Never!” he finally spits out.

Between the boys, Jeff, Grandma, Kayo and Brains the pizza doesn’t last long.

Jeff has no idea what traditions the boys have kept or made anew. “What are we doing now?” he asks Scott. Jeff is so proud of the way Scott stepped up to help raise his brothers after his disappearance and is more than happy to sit back and let him take the lead.

But it is Alan who replies. “Well we are going to have an early night. Eos is looking out for any hints of an emergency so we are going to make sure we are well rested.”

Scott and Virgil burst into laughter.

“Yeah right Al” John says, banging his fist on the table while he chokes on his coffee.

“I am an adult now. A real grown up!” Alan insists, he knows that he can’t reveal his true plans yet. If this works he will finally get the respect he deserves.

Grandma and Jeff break open a bottle of wine, which they take out onto the balcony to watch the sunset. “Do you ever miss Christmas in Kansas?” he asks. His mom gave up her own life to raise her grandchildren and he will never be able to repay her.

Grandma shakes her head. “Miss the sub-zero temperatures and the snow and the ice? No thank you!”

Even in the darkening evening the heat is oppressive and muggy. “I don’t know about you Jeff but it is nicer inside with the air conditioning. You have wrapped the boys presents?”

Jeff nods. “Of course. This is the first time in nine years that I have been able to do this and I am going to make tomorrow special. The whole family is home under one roof. It is a shame Lady Penelope couldn’t make it; I know Gordon is missing her”

“Her family plans couldn’t be rearranged, but I know they are going to meet up for New Year instead.”

The house is silent when they go back in, all five boys having agreed to an early night, so that Father Christmas can deliver their presents in peace. The living room has the look of a tinsel explosion and the main tree is covered in lights and baubles. The morning after the tree had been decorated, they arrived downstairs to find Gordon had replaced the baubles with hundreds of them shaped like his own head. Which even now gives Alan nightmares of a parallel universe where he is haunted by a thousand Gordon’s!

“I am off to bed myself Jeff dear. I will see you in the morning.”

“Night mom” Jeff replies watching her go up the stairs past Virgil’s latest art project and into the comfort of her own suite.

Jeff gets to work as soon as he is alone. Removing a box from the safe and pulling out the bright red suit and long white beard and getting changed into his old outfit. There is a large sack of presents waiting to go under the tree, which are hidden in his room.

Alan waits until he is sure that his father has gone to bed, before he sneaks out of his room and back down the stairs into the living room. Creeping as quietly as a mouse Alan sets up his great plan to catch Father Christmas and prove to Gordon once and for all that he does exist!

“What are you doing?”

Alan turns round to find Gordon staring at him in confusion.

“Catching Father Christmas!” Alan insists. “What are you doing out of bed?”

“Getting a glass of water. Do you need any help?”

Alan shakes his head. “No, I have everything I need here. Can you remember the time you trapped Scott in that net and forced him to watch five hours of Into the Unknown?”

Gordons eyes crinkle with the laughter of the memory. “Yeah, fun times!”

“Well that. I am going to use that to catch him.” Alan reveals his plan.

“Good luck. I am going back to bed” Gordon says yawning. “You want a drink?”

“I’m good” Alan replies. Turning his attention back to the trap. He doesn’t go up onto the roof to trap the reindeer, the last thing he would want to do is accidentally cause Rudolph to fall and hurt himself!

Once the net is set up Alan realises that he needs a place to hide, and he knows the perfect spot. The boy’s old fort. To help them adjust to the move, Jeff helped them build a fort in the living room behind his desk. The entrance is hidden by a pair of curtains which used to hang in their mom and dad’s room in Kansas. Inside there are five squashy mismatched armchairs which Grandma helped them decorate. Alan’s is bright red and adorned with pictures of rockets. Here he has the perfect view of the room, as he gets settled in his chosen hiding spot.

He has not been in here for ages and he starts to think about the times he spent in here.

That first night on the Island when he was too frightened to sleep and ended up in here joined by his brothers they all slept in here, snuggled in a bro pile on the soft carpeted floor.

Their first Christmas where they strung fairy lights across the entrance and all stayed in here to open their presents and eat the cold dry turkey Grandma cremated for their dinner.

The night their father disappeared. Alan sought refuge in here, curling up on the floor on his own while he cried himself to sleep. Alan hasn’t slept in his own bed since, preferring the floor. No one else has vanished while he sleeps on the floor.

There is a box next to his chair. A box full of memories. Smiling now, Alan starts to look through the box. there are ticket stubs from movies they went too, old school reports, John’s science fair trophy and Gordon’s Olympic gold medal. Family photos from Kansas and the Island. At the bottom of the box, Alan finds their old flag. Designed and painted by Virgil “Fort Tracy” and tomorrow he is going to put the flag back where it belongs.

Alan sits down on the floor, and before he knows it he is fast asleep.

*TB*

“ARRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!” A scream wakes him up nearly an hour later. Alan jumps in shock, and momentarily confused before he realises where he is. He scrambles to his feet and races out the Fort where he finds exactly what he is waiting for.

“YES I CAUGHT YOU!” Alan cries.

“Get me down!” The figure dressed in his red suit calls from above his head.

Realisation that it is his father and not Father Christmas dawns on him, and he releases the net. “DAD?”

“What the hell Alan?” he asks.

“I just wanted to catch Father Christmas” Alan says, there is a deep look of disappointment on his face and tears are threatening.

“Oh Allie” Jeff melts. “You know that Father Christmas doesn’t exist. Come on, help me pop the presents under the tree and then I will make us hot chocolate.”

The disappointment isn’t fading as he helps Jeff place the gifts until he finds ones with his name on. “Hey, look this one is for me!”

“Of course it is. Do you think we would leave you out?” Jeff asks.

“Gordon said…” Alan starts.

“Say no more! Never listen to Gordon” Jeff reminds him with a grin.

Jeff makes the hot chocolate, and the two go back to the Fort. “I haven’t seen you use this for ages” he says while he sits on Scott’s customised chair.

“I think we outgrew it” Alan says, there is a hint of sadness in his voice now.

“Nothing lasts forever Alan, you must know that by now” Jeff says, placing his mug on the floor and giving his youngest son a hug.

“Everything changed when you disappeared dad” Alan admits. “And none of it for the better, I missed you so much” and he finally realises that he knew all along that his father was playing Father Christmas. Since he got back, there has been hope in his life again.

“I missed you too. I missed you all so much but I am back now, and I am never going anywhere like that again” Jeff reassures his youngest son.

“Please don’t” Alan replies resting his head on his father’s shoulder, he can feel himself falling asleep here and he has never felt so safe before.

Jeff is starting to snore when there is a loud thud outside.

“Dad? What was that?” Alan asks, shaking him awake.

“Whaaaa?” Jeff replies sleepily.

“There is something outside” Alan tells him.

“No there isn’t. Go back to sleep” Jeff replies.

“Come on!” Alan says, trying to drag him to his feet.

Jeff knows when he is defeated and allows Alan to lead him from their sanctuary to find out what is going on.

Out by the pool, there is a sleigh parked which is housing eight reindeer. “DAD!” Alan shouts, “LOOK!”

“Hello Alan, you are meant to be in bed!”

“FATHER CHRISTMAS!” Alan exclaims in shock. “How? My brothers said you didn’t exist. But I knew you did, I just knew it!”

“And that Alan Is why your brothers are getting a lump of coal each and your getting a plush model of your thunderbird” Father Christmas replies. “But you have to keep my secret, okay?”

Alan nods. “Anything for you. I promise that I will always keep your secret”

“Good, now go to bed and get some sleep”

Alan is sitting up in his room when Father Christmas leaves, watching the sleigh fly up and away into the night sky with a “Ho ho ho” which he knows he is the only one who can hear.

“Merry Christmas” Alan says to the retreating reindeer before he lies down on his bed, and for the first time in nine years Alan sleeps soundly in his own bed.

*TB*

Christmas morning is a blur of laughter and present opening. Until there is only one gift left.

“Dear Kayo,

Have a lovely Christmas 😉

Love from Gordon”

“Gordon, you are the only person I know who can make have a lovely Christmas sound like a threat!” She tells him as she pulls the ribbon and lifts the lid from the box.

Lemonade explodes all over her.

“GORDON!” She yells running her hand through her sticky hair.

“Gotcha!” Gordon replies with a grin.

“Oh you are lucky it is Christmas!” Kayo tells him laughing. “Truce?”

“Yeah truce” Gordon agrees.

“Excellent, I am going to check on the turkey” Grandma says.

Identical looks of horror flash upon everyone’s faces.

“Merry Christmas boys” Jeff says with a grin. Glad that it doesn’t matter how many years have passed, somethings just never change!

#thunderbirds are go #Thunderbirds 2015 #tag team secret santa #secret santa 2020 #Gordon Tracy #kayo kyrano #alan tracy #jeff tracy #Scott Tracy #John Tracy #Virgil Tracy

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redfoxwritesstuff · 4 years ago

Text

Of Dust and Ashes

Sorry it’s a few days late. We got a new kitten day before post day and she cuddles. I can’t write and cuddle a kitten AND I will *not* refuse a kitten. Plus, between house viewings for my sister and taking my daughter to hang out with her cousins, my weekend got hijacked. But there IS good news. I’ve got a laptop! So pace should increase and my hope is to be back to a weekly update schedule by Christmas.

Chapter warnings: Nondetailed talk of death of disabled, elderly, children, toddlers, infants and animals.

Masterlist

Chapter 33: Town

Clint watched the boy in the rear view mirror. He was long, lanky and far too skinny. With what surely were still trembling hands, the boy gathered what was left to him and walked away, dragging his feet with each step. Part of Clint was angry with himself for giving away valuable supplies to someone he knew was going to more likely than not be dead before spring thaw. It was wasteful in a world that one couldn’t afford to be wasteful in.

What would Dee have done? What would she have said? Would she have given the boy food? Would she have invited him to join them? Would she have hated him if he turned the boy away empty handed?

Clint sighed and pushed the thoughts out of his mind. Instead, he focused on the positive things. He was alive. Dee was alive and Trust would likely be alright. The sun was shining bright in the sky. It was a beautiful day with only the slightest bite of bitter cold to the air.

Sun filtered through naked tree branches and danced over the glossy green needles of the pine. Something large and brown caught his eye in the distance. It was on the side of the road as the small town gave way to the rural fields that separated the smaller village where Sasha’s clinic sat.

“Are you serious?” Clint couldn’t believe his eyes.

Standing on the side of the road, eating at bushes was a large bull moose. He was standing tall and proud. Clint kept far enough away, not wanting to startle the beast as he grabbed his gun and rolled down the driver’s side window. Icy air rolled inside, purging the heat from the truck faster than he thought possible.

After throwing the heat on full blast, Clint leaned out the window and took aim. The moose wasn’t scared. The beast paid the truck no mind as he raised his massive head and made his way up out of the ditch and onto the road.

Clint waited until he was halfway across before taking the shot. He needed this. They needed this. The sound of the gun echoed through the forest. Birds took flight, startled from where they sat. In the center of the road, the moose went down. Legs kicked twice before going still.

“Fuck yeah.” Clint breathed to himself as he pulled the truck closer. “I don’t know what you’re doing here buddy, but boy am I thankful for seeing you.”

Moose were not common in Missouri. Sure, he’d seen one on occasion wander into the state but they kept more toward the northern border. Whether it was the wacky weather or the simple lack of humans to interfere allowing them to expand their territory, he was thankful.

A deer or elk could feed him and Dee for a week or so. A turkey for a few days. A bull moose would feed them for the month easily while still supplementing the clinic.

After grabbing a large hunting knife out of the glove box, he set to work. It was hard and gory work, but he did it as fast as he could. The contents of the body spilled on the ground around him. Removing the antlers was another task in itself. They were large and at one point he smacked himself in the face with them. Trust would enjoy gnawing on hooves and antlers.

With the innards and head removed, the carcass was a bit lighter. Still, it was a struggle to move it into the truck bed. He had thought of bagging up the innards and taking those with him as well. In the past, he had used innards to bait traps and even fish.

Now, it probably wouldn’t work to trap any predators or scavengers. The simple fact is there was too much dead meat laying around for some moose innards to really be of a notice. In the fall, the meat will have spoiled or been eaten and the scavengers would be hungry. The hunting would be good in the fall.

Clint washed his hands and arms in the powdered snow at the side of the road. Now he was a little less miffed about having given away supplies to the boy. There were large smears of red marring the fresh white of the snow. The layer of fresh snow covering the highway was thinner. The sun baked and melted the exposed ground far better than the forest floor and snow always seemed to melt faster on asphalt.

The warmth from the carcass and the blood worked to melt down the snow on the road. In a few places, the black of the asphalt peeked through where blood soaked away the snow.

Clint knew all it would take was a large blizzard and the road could easily become lost to travelers. Part of him wondered how folks up farther north, into Canada were coping. Was their government more cohesive than America’s? Did they manage to get power restored before people froze to death in the bitter winter?

It would be worth exploring. And unlike many, his truck could tame some unplowed roads and heavy snow drifts. Would Dee be up for it? Exploring and checking on the world? Did he want to? Was it a good idea?

He shelved the thoughts for now as he brought the truck back to life. What mattered right now was that he had a whole moose and a solid meat supply for the near future.

When he approached the turn off for the Clinic, he drove by instead. While he wanted nothing more than to get back and start butchering the moose, he wanted to cover his tracks. The sheer lack of traffic left many roads covered in a undisturbed layer of snow and he needed to disturb it. As it was, almost all the tracks on the road were his. It made it rather obvious that someone was stationed in the clinic.

He drove up the road and pulled into a side street. He followed roads, turning at times and backtracking, beating down snow and making it look more used than it was. He pulled into pristine driveways only to pull out and repeat the process. Occasionally, he would get out and try the doors. Some would be unlocked.

Inside unlocked houses he found pasta, flour and grains that had been left behind when the occupants had turned to dust. There were piles of settled dust around armchairs and dining tables. Sometimes, there were bodies rather than dust. Children who could not fend for themselves and were too young to open doors or think to leave the house.

Toddlers trapped in houses with a toddler proof door. Babies in cribs. Dogs and cats without a way out. Wheelchair bound bodies who perhaps knew better than to try. Elderly without the strength to travel a great ways.

The snap had intended to remove half the life from the universe but it had caused so much more loss of life than that. Clint ignored the frozen bodies, often in varying states of decay based on simply how long they had managed to hold on.

He made note of houses with generators, woodstoves and fireplaces. Later he would come back and drain fuel from generators. Wood stacks sitting out were added to the truck. He didn’t have to worry about heat or power at the farmhouse but Sasha did and would greatly benefit from these supplies.

He had no intention of giving it all to her however. If they made extended trips away from the farmhouse, they would need wood and fuel both. Plus, it was a valuable resource for trading for as long as a barter economy lasted.

He spent over an hour making tracks in the snow and gathering supplies from houses and cabins. Occasionally, eyes 45would peek out at him from windows when he pulled up to a house. On one occasion, a man came out waving a gun.

“I’m armed!” He hollered as if it wasn’t obvious.

“Neat.” Clint answered as he reversed down the driveway only to pull in again. “I’m not going to bother you.”

“What are you doing?” Curiosity won out over caution for the man.

“Making tracks.” Clint answered as he pulled in once again, from a slightly different angle.

“Why?”

“So it looks like a lot of people live here and to hide which houses actually have people.”

“Why?” What was the man, two?

“So people who don’t mean y’all well can’t look at the snow and pinpoint what houses people are still living in to steal supplies.”

“You’re stealing supplies.” The man pointed out as Clint got out of the truck. The man didn’t look ready to follow through with his threats and Clint honestly didn’t fear him.

“From abandoned houses. Need some flour or sugar? Pasta? I hit jackpot in a house down the block.”

“Sarah May’s house.”

“Sure. The woman was dead inside so she’s not using it. There was some water too.”

“Oh. Okay.” The man dumbly caught the box of pasta Clint tossed his way.

“Here, help me make tracks. You should probably start doing this too. I’m not always going to be in the area to cover it. How many of you are in the town?”

“A handful of us.”

“Cool.” Clint handed him a few cans of pasta sauce. “Got a bag?”

“Yeah, I’ll get one.” The man was clearly still very confused on what was happening. Clint didn’t mind parting with supplies now that he had the moose in the back. He could afford it. Plus, these people lived near the Clinic. It would be good to have a relationship with them, even if it was just in passing. Strangers get shot.

It was nearing sunset when he had finally called it a day. Randy, the man who braved going outside had helped him, walking paths between houses and shoveling walkways from houses to the road. Clint didn’t promise Randy much beyond a share of the supplies they found. They waved and smiled at a few faces peering out windows but no one else braved going outside.

Clint left boxes of pasta, flour, sugar and a few cans of food on doorsteps of houses that had faces in the windows. Far more houses were empty than had faces and very few had been broken into. The benefit of being rural was simply the fact that most of these people had emergency rations and could hole up and survive for a while.

How many of them would make it to spring planting, he had no idea.

“Are you with the government?” Randy finally braved asking.

“Nope. But they are working on setting things something close to right again.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“Because I’ve got a friend who’s living near here. And I don’t want people coming and killing her for her supplies.”

“People are doing that?” Randy clearly hadn’t ventured out of this small rural neighborhood.

“Yeah.” Clint answered. “A lot of people are, to be honest. Others are gathering people up and using them as slaves, calling themselves Kings.”

“The government is allowing that?”

“Not really. They’ve retaken control of the east coast and are moving West but it takes time. Half the population just up and vanished. Add in casualties from accidents and stuff- they had to pull bodies from all over to have enough to take back the East Coast. They can only push west so fast, keeping in mind supplies, troops and how much power they can maintain. It’s slow but they are coming.”

“I thought they would never come.” Randy admitted. Clint could understand that. It’d been nearly five months since it had happened. In many ways it felt like yesterday. At the same time it felt like several lifetimes ago.

“They will. Just keep hanging on, gathering supplies and staying warm. If you run out of food or water, you won’t make it long.”

“If I run out of water, I’ll melt down the snow like Cathy down the road has been. Haven’t seen her recently but I haven’t been even looking’ outside much. Only reason I looked today was the sound of the truck.”

“I wouldn’t drink snow water.” Clint said. “There’s ash and dust in it. If you have to, filter it as best you can. I don’t know what drinking the ash that the people turned into will do.”

“Good point.” Clint started the truck and threw it into reverse.

“Wait.”

“What?”

“Will- Will you be coming back?”

“With supplies for you?” Clint asked but didn’t give him time to answer. “Probably not. But I may come back to drive around again. I don’t know. Kinda just winging it.”

“I didn’t mean to make you think I wanted to use you for supplies.” Randy stammered. “I just- It’s nice to have interaction with a friendly face. Someone human and real.”

“I know.” Clint said and backed out. There wasn’t really anything left he needed to say.

The drive back to the clinic was as uneventful as the drive out had been. He drove by it a few times, turning around on different driveways and pull offs, making the road look more traveled before finely pulling in. Dee was sure to be worried about him by now.

The sun was hanging low in the sky as the truck rumbled to a stop in front of the secluded clinic, lighting the sky aflame with oranges, pinks and reds. The temperature was quickly dropping from a balmy twenty as the darkness of night encroached. Thick trees surrounded the clinic, shielding it away from eyes and making it seem like its own world.

In the window, he could see Dee’s anxious face looking out and was soon joined by the other two. The wave of relief that passed over her when their eyes connected was visible even from this distance. As he killed the engine and set about unloading the cooler and frozen meat, they were surely inside clearing the door.

A body crashed into his back as he leaned into the truck to grab a tomato plant. Arms wrapped around him and clutched him. Rather than grab the plant, he wrapped his arms around himself, holding her arms to him.

“I was scared.” Dee whispered into his back. Her voice was soft and weak with the relief of a fear unrealized. It instantly made him regret the time he spent covering his tracks and gathering supplies. He should have come back first and let her know what he was doing.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think.” Clint turned in her arms, wrapping his own around her and holding her tightly to him.

“Where were you?”

“Driving around, covering tracks. It was obvious that someone was coming and going from back here. I didn’t want to lead someone to us.”

“Makes sense” She mumbled into his chest.

“I should have come and told you first.”

“Lovebirds, did you get Trust a cone? He’s been going at his stitches.” Sasha called as she marched up to the truck.

They couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t normal for them to have witnesses to their quiet moments. The tenderness between them usually was private. The intrusion into their moment was enough to snap them back to reality.

“So what did you bring us?” Dee asked.

“First- Cones for Trust. There’s some medications in the bag but I couldn’t find any books that looked useful.”

Sasha took the offered bag from him. “It’s better than nothing.”

“I’ve got some rice, flour, sugar, pasta and canned food too.” Clint added. Sasha nodded and headed inside the house with her bag.

“This is a lot.” Dee said, looking at the pile of bags on the floorboards of the cab.

“It’s not all for her. “Help me unload and we’ll lock what’s going back to the house inside.”

“You don’t trust them?” Dee whispered.

“With food? I don’t trust anyone with food. We’ll leave them more than enough and can even teach them some ways to cook it. But we’re not going to suffer to support them when they won’t put the effort into supporting themselves. I went out. I got the food. I put myself at risk while they sat here safe and sound.”

“I was sitting here safe and sound too though.”

“You’re different. You’re a part of my team. You’re you.”

“And that makes it different?”

“No, I guess not. The fact that I love you makes it different.”

Dee rolled her eyes, the tension leaving her shoulders and a smile creeping up her face. “I love you, too.” she admitted, grabbing boxes and bags of flour, sugar and pasta out.”

“We’ll save about a quarter of the dry stuff for us.” Clint directed.

“Trust is fine. Gave him something for the pain and put the cone on. He should be resting and completing the world’s saddest act.”

“I’d expect nothing less.” Dee laughed as Clint shifted, leaning back against the truck’s window, hiding the view into the backseat.

“Start taking things in while we unload.” Clint directed.

“Did you find any formula?” Sasha asked as she bent down and plucked up as many boxes and bags as she could carry.

“I’ve got a few partially used cans and a few unopened ones. Found them in some abandoned houses.”

“Great- the more the better. I’m not sure Rachel’s going to be able to breastfeed nearly enough.”

“She can’t make enough milk?” Clint asked.

“In theory, she could. But it’s complicated. Her heart has to be in it, she has to give it her all and even then. Women’s minds have gotten in the way of their bodies’ doing what is natural for as long as men have been disappointing women.” Dee couldn’t help but laugh at Sasha’s words. It was true and it sucked.

“Ouch.” Clint said, plopping a bag of flour onto the pile in Sasha’s arms.

As soon as Sasha turned away, he opened the truck door and unloaded everything he was willing to give up before Sasha had a chance to come back out. Sasha returned with Rachel just as they tossed a blanket over what they intended to keep for themselves on the floor and shut the door.

~~~~~<3

@winterisakiller, @tnystrk-exe, @nonsensicalobsessions, @alcoholic-muffin, @coyotesongwriting, @usedtobegoodfriend96, @theoneanna, @alexakeyloveloki, @toozmanykids, @j-u-s-t-4, @missaphrodite23, @tinchentitri, @bambamwolf87, @queenoftheunderdark, @xoxabs88xox, @carissime72, @myoxisbroken, @wegingerangelica, @faemapfae, @jeremyrennerfanxxxx123

#clint barton x oc #clint x ofc #clint barton x ofc #clint barton x you #clint x reader #Dark Fic #dark fanfic

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thefantasygirl3 · 5 years ago

Text

The fearsom five's christmas hijynx

Genre/warnings: Comedy, Slice of life.

Word count: 7 792

Summary: The other fearsome five are hiding in fear, scared over what Quackerjack might have gotten them for christmas. When he offers them their gifts, they get nervous and make up the excuse of christmas shopping to keep him distracted. Meanwhile they find ways to protect themselves from the dastardly gifts.

Notes: This one really came out later than I’d expect and became far longer than expected! But here it is and I hope it satisfies someone.

The city of st. Canard. It was covered in a white sheet of cold frozen flakes. The day of christmas was quickly approaching and the citizens were all running about in their holiday craze. Many were preparing their houses for the cheerful holiday, others were doing some last minute christmas shopping and some others were preparing traps so they could finally see santa in the feathers. Many active people out and about.

In fact, even some of the villains were preparing for their christmas plans.

Negaduck was walking through the dark alleyways, stealthily making his way towards the hideout of his evil team. The villain was scoffing to himself and making disgusted sounds as he stomped his way through. "BLEGH! Christmas junk all over the place! It makes me sick to my stomach seeing all the lights and colorful decorations and APPALLING GLITTER! Makes me want to burn everything to the ground" he complained to no one as he kept heading towards his hideout, making sure he moved undetected through the more populated areas before he finally reached the nest.

Entering the building, he kept talking out loud and started to laugh menacingly to himself. “But it doesn’t matter! All this meaningless malarkey is at least going to be a good distraction for my next heist! Mwua ha ha ha ha! Yes! They will be too busy ripping up presents and stuffing themselves full, no one will be around to stop me from robbing the bank! It's the… perfect… crime…" as Negaduck kept monologuing to himself, his steps started to slow to a stop as he reached the middle of the hideout. The duck immediately took note of the fact that the place was pretty much empty. There should be people here already, he had told them to be there early! "Damn ditzy dopes! I should be getting the chainsaw ready for them when they arrive!" he grumbled angrily as he rounded the corner, heading towards the workspace.

As soon as he did so, something caught his eye. Out of one of the boxes, a violet petal was peeking out. It was quite obvious and it made Negaduck rub his temples in exasperation. Walking over towards the box, the duck reached out and grabbed the petal in his fingers, immediately plucking it harshly. And with that, Bushroot shot out of the box with a loud "YOUCH!" and landed on his butt, outside the box while rubbing his hair in pain. "Hello, vegetable. Mind telling me WHAT YOU WERE DOING HIDING IN A BOX!?!" Negaduck yelled at the plant scientist on the floor, tapping his foot as he awaited an answer. "N-Negaduck!” Bushroot yelped as he jolted up and crawled back, bumping into a big wooden panel that fell over and revealed Megavolt, curled up on the ground. "Negaduck?!" he exclaimed surprised as he shot up from his place on the floor. "Negaduck! Y-you're here early!" Liquidator added on as his head materialized out of the puddle underneath the fridge.

"Yes I am! And you'll be seeing an early grave if you don't tell me what you're doing!" the duck who's name was repeated earlier demanded as he grabbed a hold of Megavolt and pulled him off of the ground. "Don't you realize! It's christmas! HE might be here soon! We'll be doomed" the plug-head explained in fear as he was shaking on his knees and in the other's hand. "BHA! You idiots gave away our HIDEOUT!?!" the yellow clothed duck shouted in rage, launching Megavolt back into the mutant plant. "Which one of you gave it away?! It's probably that stupid clown! Still hiding from me like a coward" he growled in a low, very aggressive voice while looking around the room and punching a box or two. "No, boss! It's him were talking about! Quackerjack!" Liquidator tried to explain as he crawled out from under the fridge, cowardly moving closer to the other teammates.

"What? You're afraid of that dope? You've gotta be kidding me" Negaduck started to laugh at the quivering trio, waving his hand dismissively at them before walking over to the work table. "Don't you understand!? Quackerjack makes toys! You give away toys on christmas! And we got a text before, saying he got some very special gifts for us!" Bushroot sputtered out as he ran behind the others and kept shaking in terror. "Yeah! And we have no idea what's in store! WE NEED TO PREPARE FOR HIS ASSAULT!!!" the rat panicked rather quickly as he waved his arms in the air. "He could be here any sec-" as the water man began his part of the explanation, the loud sound of a door being smashed open was heard, followed with a shout of "I'M HEEEERE~!".

The team flew together into a big, fearful hug and shivered hard enough for the sound of their shuddering to be painfully clear. The boss of the team just shook his head and looked at them annoyed, but in slight amusement. From around the corner, Quackerjack emerged with the biggest grin on his face, two small gift boxes and one larger one. "Geez you guys! If you were all so cold, why didn't you wear a jacket or something? WOOH HA HA!" he laughed at them all and walked over to the table, placing the gifts on it while ignoring the angry duck's protests. "O-oh! You know! It's cooler without them!" Liquidator tried to act casual while pushing the other two aside, not wanting to embarrass himself more than necessary. "Anyways! … W-what'cha got there?" he then asked as he kept a distance between himself and the most likely very deadly gifts.

"OH! You mean your awesome christmas presents?! Yeah! That's what I got!" the jester told his friend cheerfully as he bounced from foot to foot, jingling his bells about with the bouncing of his hat. "Oh wow! Quacks! Th-that's… so nice of you! C-can't wait for tomorrow!" Bushroot said with a very nervous laugh, rubbing his hands together in some sort of attempt to keep himself calm and away from running out of the room immediately.

"AAAAAW! But I can't wait for TOMORROW! Can't you open them now?! I hear that some countries celebrate christmas eve" Quackerjack said in his usual ever-changing tone, going from a whine to a more smug sounding voice. "Yeah. Go ahead! Why don't we see what you all got?" Negaduck said in his fake nice voice, curling his finger around the present ribbon. "Oh! Um… that sounds… really nice! B-but… but… um…" now the man was at a loss of words, trying to think of an excuse to not be made into a duck salad. "W-well… we… don't have a gift for you yet! How can we open your… probably great gifts when we don't have anything to give you?" Megavolt chimed in as he ran over to their friend and put an arm around him, trying his very best to convince him that they really did want to open it and not rather be on the other side of the earth.

"Oh. No no no! It's ok! I'd much rather just get the gift of seeing someone finally smile when I give them something! If the kids won't appreciate my toys, at least you guys can enjoy my gifts!" The toymaker said in a rather happy voice, seemingly just out for his teammates' appreciation. This just made the electric man start to sweat and become very flustered, stuttering out an incoherent excuse. Quackerjack just stared at him in pure excitement.

"Aaaaah… I guess the cat's out of the bag. We couldn't keep it secret for long" Liquidator sighed disappointed as he moved over to his two buddies, putting a hand on each of their shoulders and giving them a wink each. "Wh-what? What secret? Are you guys keeping something from me?!" The now curious jester asked as he looked at the three, getting himself worked up about what this thing could possibly be. "You see, Quacks, we got a great deal on a collective gift we wanted to give you tomorrow, at the mall. But if you want to do the gift giving today, we have no other choice but to pay for the express shipping!" the previous business man said in his usual "trying to sell you something" way, putting his hands on the other's shoulders. "Oh please" the yellow suited villain groaned and rubbed his beak, unable to believe they thought this ridiculous lie would work.

"REALLY?! Oh goodie! I'm sorry I made you spoil it, but I'm so curious now! Can we go immediately?". Of course, when the lie was told to the bluntest shovel in the cutlery drawer, then it wasn't as unbelievable. "Yeah! Of course we can! It will let us do some last minute christmas shopping!" Bushroot said with a grin, putting his vine arm around the oblivious toymaker and leading him outside, the rat and dog following close after them. "HEY! WHERE DO YOU FOOLS THINK YOU'RE GOING?! WE HAVE A HEIST TO PLAN!!!" the ever angry Negaduck screamed after his four subordinates, waving his arms around as he ran after them, only to be buried under a big pile of snow as soon as he walked outside.

Walking through the mall, Quackerjack was following his friends while doing cartwheels and handstands. "Oh boy, oh boy! I just love surprises! Can't we walk faster?!" he giggled as he pushed himself off the ground and landed right back on his feet. "Um… Liquidator? Do we even have a surprise? Please tell me we do! I don't wanna become toy stuffing!" Megavolt was still panicking and sparking while he grabbed a hold of the dripping dog, shaking him around before getting smacked in the face with a frying pan made out of water. "Not to fear, my friends! I have a deal prepared for our cooky friend to keep him busy and with satisfaction 100% guaranteed!" he told the two beside him before he leaned in and started whispering his idea to them.

As they walked around the corner, the team stopped their purple and red friend, to his surprise. "OH! Are we here now?!" he asked them as he jumped up and down, clapping his hands in excitement. "My friend! Are you feeling bored during christmas eve? Feeling the need for some fun? Try… The ARCADE!" Liquidator announced as he moved out of the way, gesturing towards the huge paradise of video games. As soon as Quackerjack saw it, his smile immediately dropped and his face morphed into anger. "THE ARCADE!?! Are you kidding me?! Video games are mindless dribble! They are destroying the toy industry! And you're saying my gift is playing some GAMES at the ARCADE?!" he started yelling at the three while pulling his hat down in rage and frustration.

"Oh of course not! We know that you hate this type of stuff! Which is why we brought you here!" Bushroot told the angry, jingling jester while he was throwing a temper tantrum. The duck then looked confused about that response, not sure how that made any sort of sense. "Don't tell me you didn't bring any toys with you! How were you planning to wreck the place without them?" Megavolt asked with a smug sounding voice, raising his eyebrows at him and smirking like a proud bastard. Quackerjack looked a little confused still for a moment until he connected the dots, getting a huge, eager grin on his beak. He quickly pulled out his wind up teeth and ran over towards the other guys, giving them a big hug before letting them go and saying "Oh thank you guys! This is such a wonderful gift! I'll be a couple of hours! It's PLAYTIME!!!". Then he was off to cause chaos.

The three looked as he ran off, waving and smiling while wishing him a merry christmas until he was out of view. They then let out a big sigh and sank down on the floor, as if melting from the release of tension. "Ok. So! Now that he's distracted and happy, we can finally get something ready for the assault" Megavolt sighed and moved his glance over towards Liquidator. "By the way, couldn't he just come here and destroy the place himself?" he then asked as they all had the moment to just collect themselves and come back to their senses. "Of course, but he doesn't need to know that" the dog muttered as he got up from his little puddle and helped clean off some dust from bushroot, who spoke up soon thereafter. "Alright. Here is the idea. We will all need to find a way to prevent these toys from attacking us! They will most likely be very advanced or dangerous! So we will need the best of the best stuff to stop them!".

"Yes! And I know exactly what I'll get for this!" the rat proclaimed confidently as he walked to the front of the group, pointing towards a map of the shopping center. "I will be going over to the appliance department and find the best CPU disruptor a man can buy!" he said confidently and put his hands on his hips in a matching demeanor. Bushroot walked over and took a glance of the map, extending his arm and pointing at the only plant store in the mall. "I'll go and see if I can find a good plant that I can mutate". "Well then, I guess I will have to… hmm… I guess going to the pet store to find some vicious fish could be of help" Liquidator pointed at the pet store and left a big water droplet to run down the display. "Alright! We got a plan!" The sparking man exclaimed as he put his hand up, then pointed towards the rest of the mall and shouted "Now GO GO GO!". And with that, they scatter.

The plant scientist was glancing around in the gardening shop, browsing through the different flowers and plants. He deeply enjoyed all of the greenery inside the store. In particular, he was taken aback by a beautiful orchid, making a double take before taking a stop beside the purple seductress. “Why hello there, you gorgeous flora. Ah~ If only my hands weren't tied, i'd buy you in a heartbeat” he sighed and gently rubbed it's petals in a very flirty manner.

As Bushroot was having this rather intimate moment, an old duck was clearing his throat behind him, scaring the ever living crap out of him. "Excuse me, sir. I couldn't help but notice that you are a plant lover, just like myself. Are you looking for something specific?" he asked the now shaking plant man, correcting his glasses that were sliding down his beak.

"Oh! Yes! I'm looking for something… oh wow! Who is that?!" Bushroot interrupted himself as he saw this gorgeous tall blossom, right behind the old florist. "Ah! You mean ms. Antirrhinum! Or more commonly known, the snapdragon flower. She is a beauty, isn't she?" He perked up a bit as the green duck was gawking over this big red cute belle. "Ms? So she's single?" Bushroot sighed as he circled the snapdragon and was practically drooling all over it. "Ah… ha ha ha! As single as they get, I suppose" the florist chuckled before heading over and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Now, what was it that you needed?".

"Huh? Oh! Yes! Sorry! I… I need something more…" as the scientist got back on task, he leaned in towards the other duck, scanning the shop quickly before whispering "... vicious". The florist looked up at him with a rather confused look, seeming shocked about the request. "... oh! You meant something exotic, right! I have many fierce ladies in this store!" He laughed softly at him as he started wandering past him towards the exotic area of the store. "I'm sure we can find a gal to suit your needs!" He added on as he motioned towards the countless colorful plants.

"What? No! No I mean- like literally! Do you have a plant that could, completely theoretically, rip a robotic teddy bear with built in flamethrowers limb for limb? Or chew a killer fairy with a big chainsaw to bits?" Bushroot interrupted him as he tried to explain himself, without giving out too much information about his plan. Clearly doing well! The duck looked over at him and just stared for a few seconds, his face scrunching up into a nervous frown. "Well… we technically aren't allowed to have any sort of plants like that" he told him while starting to roll his fingers and sweat slightly, wiping it off as soon as he felt it roll down his forehead. "Please! You've got to have something even slightly… wait… technically?" the plant mutant then pointed out as he realized the strange wording. As he said that, the florist carefully glanced around the room, as if making sure no one else was in there at that very moment. "I might have someone you would like to meet… if you can keep a secret, that is" he whispered to Bushroot, who was quick to perk up and say "Oh of course. I am far from a narc, sir".

The duck looked around still as he approached a shelf full of seeds, making sure the coast was clear as he started pushing it out off the way to reveal a tough looking door. He quietly unlocked it and pulled his customer inside. As the villain was pulled into the dimly lit room, he was greeted with a bunch of very ravenous looking carnivorous plants. "Oh my goodness! A venus flytrap! Yellow pitcher plant! Cobra lily! AH, a Butterworth!" the awestruck scientist started ogling all the exotic, dangerous, man-eating plant life as he ran around the room like an excited kid on… well, christmas. "Yes. They aren't very legal to sell, but I can tell you are a lover of all plants, just like myself. But enough delaying! Let me introduce you to my precious Monica" the florist told the man, who was still adoring all the big scary vegetation, before walking over towards a large cup shaped flower with a big leaf over it's red, spiked rim. Bushroot gave away a gasp as he saw said plant and ran over to get a better look of it, gushing out "Is that… a tropical pitcher plant?! Oh wow, she's such a beauty! I'll take her! How much does $10 000 sound?! I can get you that if it means I can take such a sweet doll home with me~". He looked shocked at him, not able to believe the amazing offer given. He was practically seeing dollar bills as he reached his hand out and shook the other's hand in an immediate agreement. "Of course, sir! You got a deal! Let me write you down on a payment plan!" he told him as the plant man was still drooling over this beauty of a flower.

Inside the electrical appliance store, the rat was pushing a cart along and looking around at the boring SD cards and other computer parts that would be of no help to him when being run over by a life-sized toy train. Anxiety was starting to settle in on him as he scanned over the stuffed shelves, unable to focus on finding the disruptor he oh so needed when the constant thought of himself being tortured by adorable, crazed murder toys kept popping up in his mind. His eyes darted around, trying his very best to stay focused on finding the life-saving christmas miracle.

"Hello sir! How can I help you?" a nasally voice spoke up suddenly, earning a surprised scream from Megavolt who jumped back into a defensive position, doing some fake karate before he saw the nerdy looking teenage girl. Judging by her lanyard, he could tell she worked there. Giving her an annoyed grumble, he just grabbed ahold of his cart once more and muttered "I know more than YOU". The girl just watched him walk by and frowned a little bit, earning another annoyed comment from the rodent of "Stupid kids. Probably don't even realize what a genius they are undermining".

"Dude! Are you that big, dangerous, evil supervillain, Megavolt?" another teen with long blond hair covering his face asked in a funky way, sounding like some sort of surfer-dude. Caught of guard, Megavolt only looked around in confusion, not sure whether he should confirm or deny that question. Unsure, he answered with a short and simple "... Yes?", wondering if he'd get thrown out or something. "Oh great! That means you must be smart!" the now relieved boy sighed as he grabbed a hold of the rat man and pulled him along towards the customer service counter. "W-Wait! Yes I am, but what do you need my intellect for?!" he asked baffled as he was dragged along towards a rather angry looking woman, standing beside a toaster that stood on the counter.

"Well this lady just came in, yelling about how her toaster isn't toasting properly. I was wondering if you would be able to find the problem, dude" the teen asked as he looked at him in desperation, seemingly somewhat lost and frightened by the peeved of lady staring daggers at the two of them. Megavolt wasn't sure how he had gotten himself into this mess, so he just gave the boy a baffled raise of his eyebrow. He was about to say something to him, until the lady cut him off sharply. "Listen! I don't have time for this! I want my toaster fixed YESTERDAY! It doesn't even TOAST! It barely warms my bread to room temperature! I have to wait an hour for warm bread!" she complained to him, completely ignoring the employee that was supposed to help her. The man groaned in annoyance, not wanting to deal with this when he was meer hours away from his childish DOOM! "Ma'am. I truly and genuinely do not care about your-" before he could explain how much her technical issue didn't matter to him, she snapped at him once more. "Why are you here anyways?! I asked for a MA-NA-GER! Not some whacky, dirty, off-his-rockers criminal! I want to speak with the manager right now so he can call the police to arrest that villain and so HE can be fired!" she started demanding to whichever one of them that would oblige her, practically frothing at the mouth as she was also hitting the counter.

Alright. That's it. He was ticked. This was now personal.

"... How about we just fix that toaster right up for you instead. And let me do it for free, since you asked sooooo nicely!" Megavolt said through gritted teeth, sounding very condescending to her while he was grabbing her toaster and taking it to a table that was already full of stuff, like paperwork and small tech parts. Shoving it all off the table, he slammed the toaster down and started disassembling it right away, grabbing a few parts around him to add into this household appliance. The woman gave a smug smile at the villain, who was now doing as she had demanded, meanwhile the employee looked on in surprise and awe as he was skillfully fixing this thing like it was nothing. After a few moments of tinkering, the toaster was reassembled once again and Megavolt walked over to the service counter, placing it down in front of the self-satisfied customer. "Now, let's test it out, shall we?" he suggested with a smarmy grin as he pulled out a piece of toast he had, for totally logical reasons, and put it into the toaster. Only a few seconds after the rat had started it, smoke started to seep out of the two openings on the top. And only a moment after that, flames erupted in two ginormous streams of fire. This made the woman start to scream and hurriedly scurry away out of the store. "I hope you like your bread like your coffee! HAHAHA!" Megavolt laughed and held his stomach as the fire started to calm down a bit, letting two burnt pieces of toast pop up with a delightful PING.

"Whoa… that was awesome!" the nerdy girl from before shouted out astonished as she watched the customer bump into people on her way out of the shopping center. "Yeah, dude! She's been bothering us with complaints and threats to fire us all for months! Thanks for getting rid of her!" the dopey boy said as he grabbed a hold of the villain's hand and shook it harshly, making him get red in the face and chuckle from the flattery. "Well… it is what we criminals do best!" he admitted and rubbed his neck. The girl walked over to the two and joined in in the hand shaking, crossing his arms over each other. "If there is anything we can do to thank you, you just let us know!" she offered him. This made him light up a bit, realizing that this might work perfectly in his favor. "Actually… I am looking for something rather hard to come by. If you happen to have a CPU disruptor anywhere in the store, I would be more than happy to take it off your hands!". "Well… we do have some more high-tech stuff in the back, but we aren't supposed to sell that stuff" the teen said as he looked back towards the backdoor, considering if it would be a good idea or not. "Well you're not selling it if you just give it to me for the favor, now are you?" Megavolt tried to explain to the employees, giving them a "Hmm?" and wiggle of his eyebrows. The two looked at each other, thought about it for a moment, then said in unison "That makes sense!" as they both then raced to the backdoor to get his present. Maybe this christmas wouldn't turn out so horrible after all!

Man. The pet store really wasn't anything to write home about. Liquidator couldn't believe how boring and unappealing it was. More like appalling. It was a wonder they even sold a simple little goldfish with such an unmarketable image. He almost felt like turning right around and head straight out to accept his doom. But he decided against it and just sucked it up, heading inside and looking around at the animals. The dog decided that he didn't have time to wander around aimlessly and try to find a fish that would be dangerous enough, so he headed up to the cash register to find someone who could help him. "Excuse me, ma'am! I require your assistance to find a most exotic, threatening pet that I could adopt!" he spoke up in his usual, classy salesman tone, trying to get the attention of the bored looking lady by the register. "Yeah, Yeah. Sure. Brittney can take care of you. BRITTNEY! A CUSTOMER NEEDS HELP!" she yelled towards the backdoor, prompting a pretty, tall lady to walk out and say "Ok. I'm on it" in a valley girl accent while chewing some gum.

"... Now I see the selling point" liquidator muttered under his nonexistent breath, scanning the employee as she walked over to him and greeted him. "Hiya. So what kind of pet are you looking for, sir?. "Well I'm glad you asked! Because what I am looking for is none other than a predator of the aquatiq variety!" he told the pet shop worker as he moved over to her, extending his body to be on her left, as well as her right. But she didn't seem to care at all, blowing a bubble with her gum as she just said "yeah, sure" and started leading him towards the aquarium section. As she was walking along with him, another customer walked up beside them and tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me! But I was wondering about this hamster. I already own a male hamster, will it be ok to have another in the same cage?" the young man asked as he pointed towards a couple of hamster cages. She just looked over at him confused, chewing her gum and grumbling a nonchalant "uuuh… I don't know" before turning to walk away again. She just left Liquidator stunned as he watched her walk away, not giving a single care about the customer. Like, yeah, he didn't care about his customers when he sold water, but you need to at least pretend to care or have a captivating and appealing attitude so you can make more sales. Groaning, he decided to pick up the ball she had just dropped. "Hello sir! Sorry about the laziness of the staff! But let me tell you that no! It is not a good idea to put two male hamsters in the same cage. BUT! It is very rewarding to take care of more than one hamster, as it is stated by professionals that it helps with restlessness! So I'd suggest you buy a second cage for the hamster you want! There are a few high quality ones over there across from the hamsters!" he informed the surprised man, who seemed to be eating up everything he was told, just nodding and saying "Oh! Ok!" before walking off. "Remember! The more it costs, the better it is!" he added on before leaving to find the useless employee again.

As Liquidator found the clueless girl again, she had once again been stopped by another customer, a little girl who had a puppy following close after her. "Excuse me miss. I don't know what food I should give Jasper. What do you think I should buy?" she asked in a sugary sweet voice, making the lady just glance down at her and blow another bubble with her gum. "I dunno. Dog food?" she just huffed before continuing to leave another customer behind. Facepalming himself, Liquidator quickly moves over and taps the girl on her shoulder. "Hi there, little lady! Ignore that big unhelpful lady! She doesn't know anything! If you are looking for good dog food, you should buy the ones with the big "approved" seal on it! If it has that, it means it will be good for him!" the villain said in an overly friendly way as he pointed towards the pet food section. The little girl smiled brightly and started pulling at her dog's leash, running off to find that good quality food.

This kept happening as he was attempting to keep up with the employee, person wants help buying stuff, lady blows them off, Liquidator has to take over and use his sales pitches to make a good sale.

"What is the best toy for my cat?"

"It will love the bell and feather on a string! The stick is made to not snap!"

"Are these vitamins good for my dog?"

"That's a no go! Four out of five specialists would suggest these higher quality vitamins with loads more vitamins in it for your pet!"

"My bird won't stop freaking out!"

"Yikes! Sounds like it is time to expand her cage! Trust me, bigger cage means less panic from your bird!"

After a few more quick sales, the man was tilting against a few aquariums and panting lightly, feeling exhausted from all the talking and pitching. It was amazing that this place was not burned to the ground by the sheer laziness of the staff. He was probably the only help anyone had ever gotten at this crappy store. The employee finally stopped in front of a tank of fish, motioning towards the clownfish swimming inside. This made Liquidator fall silent and just stare at her with a blank gaze. "... So how many fishes did you want?" she asked in a totally clueless voice, just staring back at him. "THIS ISN'T A PREDATOR!!!" he yelled in her face and started boiling from the immeasurable amount of rage this brought him. The employee just looked at him, asking "what's a predator?" cluelessly. The two just stared for a quiet second before the lady just takes out a ring of keys and throws them into Liquidators body. "Here. I gotta leave early today, so please lock up for me" she said dismissively as she just walked towards the front of the store to leave.

He just looked at her shocked as she, just like every other customer, left him alone and confused. Did she really mistake him for someone who worked there because he did her work better than her?

…

Well at least he didn't have to pay for what he needed anymore.

After a few hours in the mall, the four villains were walking home together, with the jester laughing giddily after his little bit of complete chaos. "Hoohoohehehee! I haven't had this much fun in a while! This is the best christmas yet!" he cheered as he was bouncin in front the trio that were carrying their wrapped presents. He then moved to put an arm around Megavolt, who gave him a nervous grin and moved the bag with the gift box in to carry it with one hand. The air around them, despite the expectation of impending doom, was actually rather cheerful. It was mostly due to the unrestrained joy of Quackerjack, who was just radiating christmas cheer with his excited laughter and singing. "Really? Christmas carols? I thought you were above that?" the rat poked at him with his elbow, snickering as he teased the one walking beside him. "Eh, shut up, Sparky! Can't a man feel the christmas spirit for one?" he snapped back while trying to hold back a happy giggle, wanting to appear somewhat tough. Liquidator and Bushroot looked at each other and gave an amused smile.

And soon enough, they arrive at the hideout. They all strolled inside and placed down their gift boxes under a christmas tree disguise that they had for the heist that was planned for the evening after. It was close enough to a regular tree, so why not? This made the colorful duck jump around even more and squeal excitedly. He was tapping his feet restlessly as he looked over towards his own gifts, wanting so bad to give them to his friends already. This did not go unnoticed, as Bushroot watched his eyes stare longingly in the direction of his own christmas gifts, feeling that nervousness return as he remembered why they even got the "gifts" to begin with. Looking over at the other two, they both took notice of his questioning look and gave a nod, indicating that they were ready for the chaos. "Hey… Quacks. Didn't you have something for us?" he asked with a forced grin, trying his best to not ruin the jester's joy.

Quackerjack gasped in excitement, not even answering the plant before he rushed off towards the work table to grab the gifts. Bushroot moved over to the others and they all formed a huddle. "Alright! Get ready for the onslaught! Keep close to the tree and hold the box at a distance!" Liquidator whispered to his fellow villains, earning a determined nod from them both. "Alright! Get ready!" the cheery voice of their four team member yelle, causing the huddle to break and the three of them stand innocently beside each other.

Quackerjack walked over, presenting the biggest present first. Everyone prayed that they wouldn't be the one to recieve the gift. "Bushroot! This one is for you!". Curses. That's just his luck. But still, the plant duck took a deep breath and accepted the rather heavy box, getting even more scared when holding the potential "pandora's box" in his hands. Swallowing harshly, he reached out and pulled the ribbon off, causing the other two to immediately hide behind whatever was the closest. He recoiled back away from the box, expecting to be jumped as soon as that lid was lifted.

But… nothing happened. That almost shocked him more than anything. So he curiously peeked inside and saw… a bag… a bag of fertilizer. It felt almost disappointing to get something so dull, instead of immeadiate death. But lifting the bag out of the box, he got a better look at it and realized something. "Wait a second! This is-!". "That's right! I got this fertilizer from a lab with some real knuckleheads for scientists working there! It's not even released to the public yet! And now it never will be! It's all yours!" the jester explained as he was hovering really close the the stunned man.

The fertilizer… it was HIS fertilizer! His project that he thought was lost after… the incident that made him into his mutant self. "Wow… wait, knucklehead scientists?" he then questioned, recognizing the description as his old labmates. "Oh yeah! Those two! I took care of them, don't worry! They seemed to really like throwing that football around! So I thought it'd be fun to try and be the ball for a change!" Quackerjack laughed amused as he seemed rather proud of himself. Bushroot just stared at him, tears starting to well up in his eyes before he hugged tightly onto the fertilizer and started wailing like a baby. "WAAAAAAH! THANK YOU! THIS IS THE BEST CHRISTMAS I'VE EVER HAAAAAAD!!!" he cried out and sat down on the floor with his precious bag.

Quackerjack looked shocked for a short moment before looking genuinely happy about the over emotional reaction he got. "Heeheehee… glad you like it" he muttered before grabbing the next box and walking over to Megavolt, who had come out of hiding and was just staring in baffled surprise. His gawking was interrupted as there was a rather small gift box shoved into his face. Accepting it without a word, he just looked back at Liquidator unsure, as if asking if it was safe. He just gave the rat a shrug and looked equally puzzled.

Megavolt just sighed and decided to go for it, ripping off the ribbon and opening the box. Inside was a USB stick, a normal old USB stick. He picked it up and held it up to the duck. "Ok… I'll bite. What is this?". Quackerjack looked rather smug as he leaned into his face and explained "Well, Sparky. This USB contains countless of blueprints from an inventor, who works for none other than S.H.U.S.H. You don't realize how surprisingly easy it was to get! I bet she doesn't even realize it's gone!". The rat's eyes widened as he heard that. A USB… with S.H.U.S.H level blueprints?! There had got to be some really advanced stuff in that tiny little stick! All the knowledge he could ever desire! He even forgot to yell at the duck for calling him Sparky.

All he could do was sputter random sounds while trying to find any sort of words to say. Megavolt ended up just pulling Quackerjack into a hug and spinning around in a moment of bliss, rambling "ohmygodthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!". The duck gained a bright blush to his cheeks as he was held in the air by his friend, just allowing it to happen as this was just the type of reaction he had hoped for. Didn't expect it at all, but he had hoped. "Oh geez! Sparky! Be cool, pal! You're embarrassing me!" he laughed in a flustered manner, trying to hide how much he's enjoying the appreciation and failing immensely.

He managed to get loose after a minute or so and took the last, tiny present and started making his way over to Liquidator. The dog looked very sceptical, as suppose to the previous expression of fear. "So… seems you really made a great sale to those two, huh?" he commented to the clown, who didn't say anything back and just wiggled his eyebrows at him. "... Well they are nerds, they get all excited over their… nerdy interests. But I'm a customer that isn't easily impressed. So don't expect any hugs or tears" he then said in a defensive tone and crossed his arms. Quackerjack only grinned wider and held out the present to him, inching it closer and closer to his face while letting out a quiet squeak.

The water man just sighed and snatched the gift out of his hands, starting to unwrap it so he could just get it over with. And inside was just a piece of paper. That was it. His face dropped and he looked up at the duck. But he just kept grinning and darted his eyes between Liquidator and the paper. Rolling his eyes, Liquidator just picked it up and read over it. As he did, he realized it was a receipt from the local grocery store. "St. Canard convenience store. Wow! You really went above and beyond. Look at all that Sparkling Crystal Pure Flud Water you purcha- w… WAIT WHAT?!" he had to do a double take as he read over the receipt, not sure he read that right. But it was right there, in black and white, over $10 000 worth of his own brand of water.

"I know you better than you think" Quackerjack giggled smugly as he bounced over towards the leaking fridge and threw it open, revealing it to be filled to the brim with water bottles. Liquidator just stared in awe and with his jaw laying in the floor. Quacks picked it back up as he put an arm around his shoulder. "I know that you do love a good sale. But what do you like better? MAKING a good sale, of course! So what better christmas present for THE liquidator than to steal money from the bank and buy every last one of your water with it? That way, the ENTIRE CITY OF ST. CANARD has bought your stuff!" he informed the shocked man that he was hanging on while staring at his face, awaiting to see a reaction from him.

He just stared at all of his bottled water, processing everything his teammate just told him. That was probably the only thing he could have ever wished for, success for his company. A singular tear fell from his eye, though it could have just been more water, and gave away a small, happy smile. "Wow… thank you, man" he just muttered.

Quackerjack let out a happy laugh as he started jumping around his friends with so much excitement. "Ho ho ho ha haa! I knew it! I knew you'd like my presents! Now, let's check what's inside yours!" he cheered curiously as he then pranced over to the other's presents under the fake tree. "Wait" Liquidator muttered surprised. "Our… presents?!" Megavolt gulped and started sweating, realizing what a mistake they had made with their assumption. "W-WAIT! Quacks! Don't open them!" Bushroot yelled as he started running over towards the duck to stop him. But it was too late as they got to watch him suddenly get shot with a laser that sent a current of electricity through his body. They then got to witness him being attacked by a dozen piranha before he was grabbed by the big pitcher plant that tried to eat him whole.

The three, after watching this while grimacing and cringing, then proceeded to run over and save him from any further pain. It took a few minutes, but they got him free from the fish and plant, sitting him down on the floor with a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate. "...Not to be rude, since I got such a nice present earlier today, but you guys aren't the best gift givers, are ya?" Quacks asked the others with an awkward grin, trying to not ruin the happy mood he had achieved earlier. But they just gave him an embarrassed look and rubbed their necks, feeling equally as awkward as him. "Listen… We're sorry about all that. We didn't mean to cause you so much pain" Bushroot explained as he sat down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. "We didn't expect your presents to be… actually really really nice. We thought you'd get us one of your demented toys that would try to kill us!" Megavolt told him as he also plonked himself down on the floor on his other side, rolling his fingers nervously. Liquidator didn't say anything, he just sat himself down and looked at him somewhat apologetically.

"Waitwaitwait! Are you telling me that you expected me to basically prank you by giving you deadly toys that would rip you to shreds?" the clown asked in surprise as he looked between all of the Fearsome Four with a confused expression on his face. The three just looked away from him and tried to find some sort of justification. But they just felt kinda bad about how they had been acting during the day when the gifts they were given ended up being really good and considerate. What justification could they have that didn't ruin the mood further?

As the jester kept darting his eyes between everyone, his eyes started to water and he began sniffing softly. Bushroot took notice and quickly tried to console him. "H-hey now! W-w-we didn't mean anything by-". Before he could finish his sentence, Quackerjack stretched his arms out and embraced all of his team with a tearful sob. "YOU GUYS! IT'S SO SWEET OF YOU TO THINK I COULD SOMETHING SO CRULE AND EVIL ON CHRIIIIIIIISTMAAAAAAS!!!" he wailed while crushing the three grown men in his colorful arms.

They all looked down at him pained as their chests were caving in from the force of the love they were given. But they smiled anyways and chuckled at the silly duck. "Geez, Quackers! I never thought any of us would ever have an actually good christmas, let alone us having one together! But you did it! You gave us a truly merry christmas!" Megavolt sighed happily and reached a hand out to rub the crying man's jangling head. It made him giggle through his tears and let go of them all, just grinning thankfully at the lot.

"GET THESE LITTLE MONSTERS AWAY FROM ME!!!" Negaduck yelled as he ran past his team, being pursued by a group of rather scary looking toys as he's chased out of the hide out. Quackerjack just looked confused as they disappeared out the door. "Weird… I thought he'd love a bit of violence!" he said, seemingly surprised by the turn of events. The other guys just looked at each other quietly for a second, before bursting out in laughter at the brief scene. That years christmas turned from wonderful to fantastic.

#darkwing duck #dwd #The Fearsome Five #the fearsome four #quackerjack #Megavolt #bushroot #liquidator #negaduck #fanfiction #fanfic

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haloud · 5 years ago

Text

cold warfare

anonymous prompted: Could you write something fluffy for Malex and Alex cold hands please?

Michael runs hot--he always has--and it’s given him some bad habits, like going out in the snow without a hat or scarf or gloves and coming back in complaining about his nose or his ears or his hands.

It’s also entirely possible he does it on purpose. Alex thinks this is more likely the case, with the number of times he’s been minding his own business only to get the tip of Michael’s nose jammed into his neck, a tiny freezing cold shock against the heat of his pulse, making him jump and squeak, an undignified noise, as Michael laughs and tugs at his clothes.

“You little shit,” he laughs, playing at squirming away while Michael plucks his shirt up, tensing up his stomach in anticipation of icy skin against his skin where he’s still warm, body heat trapped inside by his shirt and his hoodie.

“Shoveled your driveway,” Michael says, cold lips against his ear chased by the fiery lick of his tongue, his arms around Alex’s middle kind of swaying him back and forth. “Don’t I get a thank you?”

“You just spent all your brownie points,” Alex laughs in return, grabbing a fistful of Michael’s hair for leverage, but he hardly puts much effort into pulling him off--especially when Michael pouts dramatically and leans his body weight all on Alex, heavy and still warm at center mass and trusting Alex not to let him fall.

“Gonna let me pick up any more?”

“Maybe later. If you’re good.”

“Mmm, you know I can be good for you…”

Michael slides his greedy hands up Alex’s chest, rucking his shirt up with them. Already, they’re starting to get their usual heat back, stolen from Alex’s body and given right back.

“Not right now. I’m busy.”

“Alex…” Michael whines, but Alex just laughs and pulls away from him, settling his clothes back to normal and leaving him with a kiss on the cheek.

Mostly Alex is busy plotting his revenge. Michael works outside, so he has the clear advantage, but two can play at this game.

He waits a few days before executing his plan, until fresh snow falls overnight. He forces himself awake early, before Michael, even though he’d rather sleep in--but this, this is for a good cause. There’s no need to put his leg on for this, but that means this is the trickiest part of the plan--making his way out of the bedroom without the sound of the crutches against the wood floor waking Michael up. Michael can’t always be relied upon to be a heavy sleeper, so Alex maneuvers himself careful placement by careful placement until he’s in the main room and can take it with a little more speed.

He goes outside with the sun just starting to rise through the clouds, with little flurries still catching the porch light as they twist down from the heavy sky. His breath fogs up the air as he watches the winter-quiet morning, the icicles dripping from the eaves, the pristine yard in the weak whitening light.

Then he plants his crutches, reaches out his hands, and shoves them into the snow piled high on the porch railing. Cursing, he yanks them right back out, fingers already stiff and frozen from it, and he fumbles with the doorknob on his way back inside. If this was serious he would have done a test run, making himself get the length of the house on crutches with his hands like blocks of freaking ice. The plan still works if Michael wakes up, it just won’t be as...dramatic.

Michael’s still dead to the world when Alex slips back into the bedroom, though. Alex takes a second to admire him, the blanket around his waist, leaving open to the air the soft lines of his back, the tender curve of his spine. His hair fans out in loose twists across the pillow, exposing the nape of his neck, one of Alex’s favorite spots to kiss him and make him hum with pleasure.

And Alex has never been quite so excited to ruin it.

He sits down gently, trying to keep his weight from making the bed bounce too much; carefully, he takes the crutches off his arms and sets them safely next to the bedside table. Picking at the blanket with his fingertips, he slides it down, just enough so he reveals those dimples right above his ass—

And then Alex jams his icy, still-wet hands right against that soft, blazing-hot skin. Michael shrieks, loud and sharp, jumping a mile in the air while Alex cackles, grabbing at him more.

“Fuck!” Michael yelps, trying to squirm away, but Alex has him cornered, no real estate on the bed for him to escape to, and he won’t stop touching him until he stops wriggling and flopping around. The noise he makes when Alex’s hand lands on his inner thigh is particularly gratifying, somewhere cross between a whimper and a snort of laughter at the ticklish skim of Alex’s cold fingers.

“Mercy!” He shouts, “Fuck, you’re a demon—”

“I’m a demon? Turnabout’s fair play, Guerin—”

“This isn’t fair play it’s a tactical strike—ah!” He gasps as Alex starts to inch his hand up higher, toward his groin, and his thighs snap shut, blazing hot and strong and warming Alex’s hand up to a less threatening temperature in a matter of a minute or so. It makes the both of them shudder, makes Michael toss his head so he can look Alex in the eye, wild and panting from exertion and beautiful in the pre-dawn light. Hand still pinned in place, Alex has to move a little weirdly to get close enough to kiss him, but it’s worth it, especially when it gives him an opening to lay his still-cool other hand against Michael’s ribcage, making him jump again, enough to catch Alex’s lip with his teeth and send a little zip of pain through him.

“Mercy,” Michael gasps again, laughing this time, using his own hands to push Alex onto his side, onto his back so he can crawl all over him with his hot and sleep-soft body and warm every bit of him up again.

#malex #alex manes #michael guerin #roswell new mexico #my fic #fluff #FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF

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iwhumpyou · 4 years ago

Text

Mountain (Part 4)

Masterlist. Riva.

Part 3.

~#~#~#~#~#~

The snow started thirty minutes after they entered the trees.

Their path was easier, in one sense, because most of the way sloped gently downhill, making the sled extremely manageable. Twice Riva had to divert her path – once because the ground had disappeared into a hollow and the second because it had tilted the slightest bit uphill. The only trees around were evergreen, fortunately, so there was enough space to maneuver the sled.

Visibility, on the other hand, had dropped significantly.

Riva couldn’t make out the trees anymore – she kept her hands outstretched, waiting to brush against pine needles before adjusting her course. She kept a tally in her head – one correction right was followed by a correction left, no matter how difficult it was to keep changing the sled’s direction.

They didn’t have a compass. They didn’t have a flashlight. She was stumbling blindly in the darkness, hoping, praying that she was heading in the right direction.

The rope to the sled, she’d twisted around her wrist. If she lost it – if she couldn’t find it again – she called out to Frederik every once in a while, when her breathing became the only thing she could hear, but his voice was getting fainter. Weaker.

And now snowflakes were drifting onto her nose.

She exhaled a harsh breath, paused to tug the scarf tighter against her face, and continued walking. The snow didn’t matter. The winds hadn’t started yet, so things weren’t truly dangerous. They were just flurries.

“Riva?” Frederik sounded lost. Quiet and scared and defeated. “It’s snowing.”

“I know,” she said, and continued to drag him to a salvation she couldn’t see.

“How –” he cut off with a cough, and her next step faltered. It wasn’t subzero. Thank all the gods for small mercies. But it was still below freezing, and they’d been out here for an hour and a half already.

Riva had at least been moving. Frederik didn’t even have that.

“How long till the town?” he asked hoarsely after he regained his breath.

She took a deep breath of sharp, icy air.

From the ridge, the trees had been about halfway down. The slope leveled out significantly once they reached the trees, and the tree line ended before the town. The distance between the trees and the town was maybe half the distance covered by the trees in total.

Once they got out of the trees, Riva would have an answer. If they got out of the trees.

“I don’t know,” she said instead, and tried not to cry. The trees would freeze on her face anyway.

~#~

The moon broke through the clouds twenty minutes later. Riva nearly cried in relief, tugging the sled forward to the patch of white she could just barely see through the tree trunks. It took another fifteen minutes to navigate through the trees, but they were finally out of the woods. A clear, unbroken stretch of white lay between them and the blinking lights of the town.

“Another half an hour,” she said, turning to Frederik, “We’re almost there.”

He didn’t respond.

Riva felt ice spear through her heart. “Frederik?” she scrambled back, crouching by the sled, “Frederik!”

His eyelids fluttered and she dropped to her knees next to him. Snow had piled up in the sled despite what was clearly uncoordinated movements to push it out and Riva cursed herself, because she should’ve thought of this. She shoveled the snow out with her gloves, the cold biting deep through her thermals as her fingers cramped even further.

She brushed the snow off of Frederik as much as she could, shaking out the top blanket in between the ropes, and trying to avoid jostling his broken leg.

“Frederik,” she repeated, her voice going high-pitched as her eyes started burning again. “Frederik, you need to stay awake.”

“Cold,” he breathed out.

“Please open your eyes,” Riva begged, “Frederik, please.”

Francesca would kill her if anything happened to Frederik. And Riva would let her because it would be her fault – if she had been the one injured then Frederik would’ve found a way to get them to safety.

His eyes fluttered open and his gaze focused on her. “M’face,” he mumbled, “S’cold.”

Riva chanced removing her left glove and hissed as she patted his face – he was right, it was freezing. She took off the other glove and rubbed her hands before placing them on his face, trying her best to warm them up.

When his skin was no longer icy cold, she took her scarf and wrapped it around his face instead. The snow had died down, and she could pull the collar of her jacket up. She hurriedly tugged her gloves back on and picked up the rope.

Her fingers spasmed as she grasped it tightly, but she ignored it and set her jaw. “You can’t go to sleep,” she warned, and Frederik mumbled something she took as agreement.

The town was a half hour away. She could do this.

~#~

Twenty minutes through, they hit a little snag. The route wasn’t downhill the entire way. Riva had somehow managed to steer them into a small hollow, and the way back up was steep.

“Go,” Frederik croaked out. Riva turned to him, frantic. He was staring at her, dark eyes calm. “Go to the town. Get help. It isn’t far from here.”

“But – I can’t leave you – I don’t –”

“I’m protected from the wind here,” Frederik motioned to the slope, “And you can’t pull me up on that – no, Riva, you know it’s true. The town isn’t far. Go get help.”

Ten minutes to get there. However long it took to find help, and then ten minutes back. Riva bit her lip and cursed – every moment she spent here dithering was another moment wasted.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Riva promised, something stuck in her throat, “You cannot go to sleep, Frederik, you have to promise.”

“I promise,” he said, trying to give her a smile. It looked more like a grimace.

Riva took a deep breath and turned towards the town. Climbing up was difficult – her fingers ached, slowly going numb, and the snow slithered past her jacket and into her boots. It was freezing cold and Riva could hear nothing but the wind howling in her ears.

The clouds were gathering again, creeping closer to the moon and Riva forced herself towards the town as pinpricks of cold assaulted her face. The lights were gleaming, streetlights on the empty, snowed-over streets. The closest buildings were dark and empty and Riva forced herself through the snow, nearly a foot high in places as she struggled to get closer to the streets.

She couldn’t make out any movement, any sign of life beyond the streetlights and she exhaled, impatient, trying to move faster –

She stepped wrong. Something gave way beneath her left boot and Riva fell into the snow, off balance and surprised.

The pain didn’t even register at first. She scrambled back upright again – she needed to find help, she needed to get back to Frederik – and made it ten steps before her left foot began to throb.

It didn’t feel broken and Riva cursed before shifting her gait to a slower hobble, one that put less weight on the injured ankle. Twenty steps further, and it became apparent that it was, at the very least, sprained – a jolt shuddered up her leg with every step.

Riva gritted her teeth and kept moving. She was finally at the town – the ground under her boots became harder and she was soon stepping through a few inches of snow, and not a foot. But the buildings to either side were closed and dark, no sign of light or movement. She limped forward, her heart clenching at the dull light of the streetlamps against the piles of snow.

The town was small, one main street and a couple of roads branching off, but she couldn’t even see any lights on in the houses, the roads were covered in snow – what if this town was abandoned, what if no one was here, what if this was a trap and the van Vorsens were waiting –

A burst of laughter and noise came from further up the street – a group was leaving a building, light spilling out onto the snow.

“Hey,” Riva called out, and had to clear her throat and try again. “Hey!” she shouted, waving her hands, “I need help! Please!” The group paused, turning towards her. “I need help! My friend is hurt!” she limped closer and the group exchanged glances before moving towards her.

“Please,” she repeated, when they were closer, “I need help. My friend is hurt. He’s back there,” she waved in the direction of the mountain. “Please.”

The group looked at her, and then turned to each other, speaking fast, and in a language that Riva couldn’t understand. She felt dread slowly pool in her stomach.

“Help?” one asked, “Need help?”

“Yes,” she said, “Please. My friend is hurt. He is in the snow.”

“Friend hurt. We help,” they said, stepping forward, “Where?”

Riva fought the urge to collapse in relief.

~#~

Part 5.

#whumpfic #riva #arc: mountain #snow #sprained ankle #cold

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epicballads · 5 years ago

Text

The Wrath of Gods and Men

@yourlovingspy [Laerth Ashkevron]

The wind was howling through cracks in stone and wood, rushing through the streets of Marren's Rest like a howling devil looking for prey. No man, woman or animal was left outside if they didn’t find it inevitably necessary or were forced to. Under its relentless onslaught, houses were creaking in protest, shutters and windows were breaking every now and then, and there had been doors unhinged by an unfortunate gust of wind, striking like the punch of a fist. At first, the wind had brought rain with it. Lashing it against houses and onto the ground, it had turned dirt streets to mud and cobblestoned ground to rivers. Water was sneaking in through the spaces beneath doors and windows. By now, the rain had turned to a mixture of water and snow, turning water into ice on the streets. It had become increasingly dangerous to tread outside and it had become colder and colder as the storm progressed. Fires were having a harder time keeping houses warm and wood to feed them was getting scarce inside the buildings. The weather had been bad for weeks, leaving the town worried for their lives as livestock and crops were dying, but the recent escalation had made things much worse. For days now, it had kept the citizens of Marren’s Rest prisoners in their homes and taverns and pubs. Animals had died in the fields around the town and more than a few people caught outside had passed. Two days ago, the last traveler had entered the tavern in the middle of town, half frozen to death. He told that the storm had hit the forest by the mountainside West of the town where he’d come from. The night before, it had surprised him and unable to escape through the mountains fast enough, he had headed for town. He couldn’t tell if an end of the bad weather was anywhere close. Things were becoming increasingly tense, especially since the traveler had fallen through the door. Voices were getting louder, blaming monsters and gods and elves and mages and witches for what was happening. Jaskier was hearing the most curious ideas of what people thought might have caused this bad weather. Rarely anyone still wanted to believe it had natural causes. Jaskier had been trapped in just that tavern in the center of town for four days now since the storm had started. At first, people had thought it would be over quick. Someone had told him that the town saw a lot of short, violent storms. The town had its name from Marren, a warrior of a local folktale. As the tale went, he had come to town when he had felt the end of his days was near and, during a winter storm, he had gone out into the field right before the town gates and stood there. With his eyes closed and his head turned upwards toward the sky, he had yelled at the sky to take him in a violent whirl of ice and water, strike him down and put him into the ground so he wouldn’t have to die of illness and weakness. Eagerly, Jaskier had jotted down the details of the story for later use in a song. As of now, he didn’t feel very creative. The sky was hung with thick, dark gray clouds, turning the night pitch black and veiling the day in twilight. Snow had started to pile up on windowsills and in front of doors and houses, starting to bury them. The inside of the tavern was cold now. Not cold as it could be but cold. The fire had to be rationed as well as food and drink. Many visitors were sitting on the floor as they had started to burn tables for fire wood to keep warm. The owner of the tavern was outside, getting rid of the worst of the snow in so many clothes, he looked like he himself was made of snow and pillows. moving awkwardly around. Jaskier himself was wearing a coat that he had bought in town and that would usually have been too heavy and too warm for him but served him well now. It was made from fur and had a large hood that was down at the moment. Jaskier, spying the man out of the window as he brushed snow off the sill, felt inspired for the first time that day. Not to clean up or shovel snow but to make their situation just a little bit better. There were no new songs that he could sing but he could continue trying to lift the mood with the songs he brought. It had worked out fine for three days now, even though the previous day he had gotten mixed results when a fight among a group of men had interrupted the performance. So, Jaskier grabbed his lute and stood closer to the fire. It was pleasantly warm. Some people noticed him moving and looked over, one of them narrowing his eyes, yelling for him to not hog the fire. Jaskier ignored the comment, for now, deeming it nonsense. “Everyone!” he started, not getting everyone’s attention. Someone sighed audibly, not managing to deter Jaskier. “The weather might still be gloomy but we don’t have to be.” Jaskier started playing his lute and the man who had been eyeing him since he had stepped up to play, was getting up as well. Jaskier sang about the fall of night and the time for secrets and adventure. The man raised his mug and hurled it at him, missing by an inch. The mug collided with the wall behind him and ricocheted against the back of his head. Jaskier stumbled forward and towards the man who was walking across the tavern, yelling he would show him the stars. It was surprisingly clever, Jaskier thought, but his voice was all tight anger yearning for release. The men who had sat with him had also gotten up. There were four of them in total, not all of them tall or muscular, but they were four and he was alone it seemed. ‘I will not sit here and listen to this stupid song again!’ one of the men interjected, suddenly finding his voice in the evolving confrontation. ‘I’ve heard it at least ten times over now!’ Suddenly, other people were starting to get up and under their yells of approval and rallies calling for violence, Jaskier moved back against the wall that was, unfortunately, very close. Who even is he, he heard someone yell and it made him unreasonably angrier than anything else he had heard. Especially seeing as someone thought to answer a traveling minstrel.

“You wouldn’t start beating up a man who simply tried to raise your spirits now, would you?” Jaskier said, holding up both his hands with the palms facing towards the crowd. “That’s definitely not gonna stop the rain.” That had been the exact wrong thing to say. Or the right thing if your goal had been to rile up the crowd even more. People weren’t moving fast yet but the outburst of aggression seemed to be contagious, running through them like a bolt of lightning. The prospect of having something to do, something to put pent up anger and find something to do other than sitting and waiting and wishing and hoping, brought something almost hopeful to the crowd that the music hadn’t been able to do. Jaskier would take credit for that, he thought, if he survived long enough to claim it.

#yourlovingspy #yourlovingspy. ( thread. )#yourlovingspy. ( the wrath of gods and men. )#yourlovingspy. ( laerth ashkevron. )

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keelywolfe · 6 years ago

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FIC: Better Days

Summary: Some days are better than others. Edge would know.

Tags: Spicyhoney, Established Relationship, Domestic Fluff

Notes: Been missing some of the side characters, seemed like a good time to pay them a visit!

part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

Read it on AO3

Read it here!

~~*~~

At the exact time Edge always got up in the morning, his alarm went off. It barely sounded before he turned it off, scrubbing a gloved hand over his face as he sat up.

Next to him, Stretch stirred, his sockets barely opening. He caught sight of Edge and offered a sleepy smile before drifting back off, snuggling deeper in the warmth of the comforter. Edge’s soul cramped pleasantly at the sweet affection in that brief glance and he rested a hand lightly on Stretch’s back overtop the blanket, a silent return of that caring, before getting up.

By the time he stepped outside in his running clothes, the horizon was starting to lighten with burgeoning sunlight. The roads and sidewalks were clear for all that the temperature was below freezing, his route taking him past the school and the shops that were still closed. To him the cold was more bracing than uncomfortable, and he was sweating by the time he got back to their home.

Before he could go inside, he heard his name called behind him. Edge turned to see Jeff walking up the sidewalk. He was bundled up against the cold in an absurdly fluffy coat and mittens, only his eyes visible over the top of his scarf.

“Good morning,” Edge said, a touch warily, as he approached. “You’re here in town bright and early.”

“Yeah, Sans actually asked me to stop by,” Jeff’s breath froze in a cloud even through the scarf. “Said since his normal lab partner was taking a few days off, he needed a hand. I caught an early bus, though, so I thought I’d see if Stretch was awake.”

“Not in the slightest,” Edge assured him.

“Figured it was a long shot.” His grin was audible even as his teeth started chattering. He was visibly shivering even as bundled up as he was. Edge was better equipped to handle the low temperature with his HP. He didn’t doubt Stretch would shortcut directly into the chicken coop to feed their brood rather than step one foot out in it.

“That being said, you don’t need to spend the morning roaming the streets in this weather,” Edge told him crisply. “Come inside for coffee.”

“Now you’re speaking my language.”

In the time it took Jeff to strip off all his outdoor gear, Edge had a pot of coffee already brewing. Along with the cups, he set a plate of freshly made muffins on the table. Jeff plucked one up eagerly, tearing off the top and eating it with enough enthusiasm that Edge forgave him his messy habits.

“These are great,” Jeff said enthusiastically, hesitating as he reached for another, his fingers hovering uncertainly. Impatiently, Edge nudged the plate towards him, sipping his own coffee while Jeff liberated another muffin.

“I’m glad you like them,” Edge said. He grimaced as he watched Jeff pour cream and sugar into his own cup. No wonder he and Stretch got along so well, they probably had the same level of sucrose and caffeine in their bloodstreams. “What is it that Sans is going to have you working on?”

Jeff shrugged. “Beats me, but I thought it would be cool.”

Last week, that scenario wouldn’t have seemed ominous. But now…“I don’t believe I have to tell you to be careful and follow his direction?”

“Nope, but since you already did, I promise I will.” Jeff glanced at the ceiling, tilting his head towards the upstairs. “How is Stretch doing anyway?”

Edge didn’t care to discuss him with others, particularly his friend, despite knowing Jeff was coming from a place of concern. Instead, he said, “I believe he’d enjoy a visit from a friend, if you’re available after your finished with whatever Sans is subjecting you to.”

“I can probably manage that.” His enthusiastic tone belied the careless words.

A quick glance at the clock made Edge grimace. “I need to get going. You can stay here where it’s warm until you need to meet Sans, if you like.”

When they’d first met, if Edge had offered such a thing, he had no doubt Jeff would have awkwardly refused, perhaps even walked around outside shivering his way to illness until the allotted time.

Now he only hummed in agreement, reaching for another muffin. It gave Edge a feeling of satisfaction, to know Jeff was comfortable in his home. With a nod, he left Jeff to his coffee and went upstairs to quickly shower and change.

He had a stop to make before he went in to work.

~~*~~

The front walkway of his brother’s house was not shoveled, the snow damping Edge’s trouser legs as he waded through it. Not entirely a surprise; Red hardly needed to use the sidewalk and he was about as likely to make arrangements for someone to clear the snow as he was to do it himself.

The porch itself was swept mostly clear, the remaining snow tamped down, and Edge knocked firmly on the door, already making plans to contact one of the local teenagers about shoveling while Red was at work. He made another mental note to warn them not to step on the deceptively innocent porch. Not that his brother would set any fatal traps, but still…

When his brother didn’t answer the door, Edge knocked harder, impatiently, and he was about to try for a third when it finally opened, red eye lights peering at him through a narrow crack.

“boss?” Red asked, warily. He opened the door another bare inch, enough for Edge to discreetly push his foot through the opening.

“Not in a long time,” Edge corrected, and when his brother only stared at him, “Are you going to let me in?”

“think we can talk at work,” Red yawned, hugely and irritatingly fake.

“I am here now, and we will talk now.” He didn’t flinch as Red attempted to close the door on his foot, not even when he pushed harder, the bones threatening to crack. He only waiting patiently until Red gave in and opened the door, muttering vulgarities under his breath.

Edge pointedly ignored that there were two pairs of shoes on the mat, both distinct to their owners.

“all right, you’re in,” Red said impatiently. He was fidgeting oddly, picking at his gold tooth for a second before he caught himself, visibly forcing his hand down. That was a rare tell of nervousness; Red normally kept himself well under control.

“Sans…” Edge began, and he could only blink, nonplussed, as his brother abruptly let out what could only be called a verbal explosion.

“i’m not fucking talking to you about sans!” he snarled. “i don’t know what your pretty little goddamn liability has been telling you or what fucking business it is of his anyway, but he can wire his trap shut before i do it for him because—

Tempting as it was to let Red ramble on, if only to see what he would reveal in his careless anger, Edge was on a schedule. He was going to ignore the implied threat to his husband. This time.

“Brother,” Edge interrupted patiently. “I was referring to YOU. You may recall that I did call you Sans for most of my lifetime?”

To see his swaggering, overconfident brother deflate like a punctured birthday balloon was bordering on comical. Even his eye lights flickered, dimming as his temper cooled. “oh.”

“Oh, indeed. I only came over to return this.” He held out the e-cigarette he’d switched out yesterday. It hung in the air between them, Red staring at it with wide-eyed confusion that was no more convincing that his earlier yawn.

“what? why?” Red protested. “that was a gift! you can’t be pissy he’s vaping, it’s better than cigarettes. tell him to do it outside if it’s bugging you.”

He didn’t know whether it was more irritating that his brother was lying to him or that he wasn’t bothering to do it well.

“It’s not a matter of the vaping disturbing me. Your gifts come with strings. Or more likely wires,” Edge said dryly.

Red didn’t have the grace to bother with a sham of embarrassment. He only grinned as he finally took back the juul. “how’d you even know i gave it to him?”

“Simple. You just admitted it.”

“ah, fuck,” Red snickered. “never could fool you on everything.”

“You fool me on enough,” Edge shook his head. “I need to get to work. I suppose it would be useless to ask for a promise that you’ll stop trying to run surveillance on my husband?”

Red shrugged. “you can ask.”

“I’ll save my breath.” He debated on calling upstairs to Sans to let him know Jeff was waiting and decided against it. It was glaringly obviously Red didn’t want to talk about it with him and Edge wasn’t going to force the issue. Red was an adult, he could make his own choices, self-destructive as they probably were.

When he got back to his car, Edge took the time to knock any snow or wetness from his shoes and trouser legs before he climbed in. On the last harried drive to the hospital, they’d all tracked in dirty slush to stain the mats and upholstery. It hadn’t been a concern at the time, but he’d taken his car in to have it detailed over the weekend.

Normally he preferred to do his own cleaning, for their house and his office both. With a car, he’d deemed it best left to the professionals. The inside was like new, a cheery tree-shaped air freshener hanging from the rear-view mirror.

He turned the radio station to an NPR station and drove to work.

~~*~~

The sense of relief that came over him to see Janice at her desk was indescribable. She looked a touch thinner and he could see the slight bulk beneath her jacket where he knew there was a bandage covering her stitches. But she gave him her normal smile when she looked up, professional and welcoming.

“Good morning,” Edge nodded at her.

“Good morning. I see you missed me,” Janice said wryly, gesturing to the neat but tall piles of folders and paperwork lined up on the end of her desk.

“Desperately,” he said honestly.

She looked startled but pleased. It turned into good-natured dismay when he set a paper bag on her desk and she groaned, “Did you bring in more muffins? I’ve already put on five pounds from what you’ve been sending to the house, you know.”

“Cranberry orange,” Edge told her and what was obviously only a thin hold on her control promptly broke.

“I’m going to ask for a raise for a new wardrobe,” she warned, fishing one out of the bag.

“You’d deserve a raise for your hard work.” He left her with that, her mouthful of muffin preventing any retort as he went into his office.

On his desk were neat stacks of papers, to sign, to review, to reject. Before he could do more than pull a stack towards him, his phone pinged and Edge picked it up with a frown, checking the message.

so if i come 2 meet u 4 lunch, can i borrow a kiss from u?

Amused, Edge sent back, You want to borrow a kiss?

yeah. promise 2 give it back

It was followed by a clutter of emoticons in various stages of kissing and heart eyes.

Edge could only shake his head, texting him back a time, then turned his attention to the stack of papers and got to work with an intensity, relaxing into the rhythm of it all.

Today was definitely a better day.

-finis-

#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underswap papyrus #underfell papyrus #by any other name

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dazzlinglux · 7 years ago

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Let it Snow → Delux

Who: @dazzlinglux and @deliajubilee

When: Sometime during Winter break

Where: The Winter Woods

What: Lux notices something up with DJ and in his quest to find out what’s wrong, they get snowed in!

Lux was feeling a little drained. The Winter Woods were nice when he wanted to fly around and dodge snowballs with Ember for a few hours, but with this snowstorm, there was no sun out, and therefor, no light. So Lux's powers were weak, and when his powers were weak, so was he. He'd been waiting for DJ to come back and join him before crossing back over to Pixie Hollow, lying on a tree branch keeping his wings warm before he saw her zip past him with ridiculous speed and force, toward the home tree. He'd never been in the Winter Woods' home tree, so following her felt like some sort of invasion of privacy, but he couldn't just sit back and wonder what had her so angry....or sad....or whatever. Lux followed, calling out for her, but she ignored him. He flew faster, trying to catch up, until they were neck-and-neck and both zoomed through the front door at the same time. Their bodies both hit the back wall of her house, shaking the branch just slightly, but enough to where a large pile of snow fell from the branch just above it, and landed in front of the door. Lux jimmied the doorknob and tried to push against it, but just as he'd feared, they were stuck. "Okay, so that's definitely your fault," he was quick to accuse, suddenly feeling a sort of anxiety about being literally trapped in the Winter Woods for however much longer.

Delia J had been really trying her best to maintain some degree of chill when dealing with her sister during the holidays. After all, it wasn't like Dagny had SET OUT to sleep with the guy Delia J had been crushing on for practically ever. Especially since the only people DJ ever even told about the crush were her best friends. But that still didn't help the deep feeling of rage and betrayal she felt every time she so much as glanced at the other girl, and since Dj wasn't even a little skilled at not giving away exactly how she felt at any given time, she'd practically been a ticking time bomb as she and Dagny spent time with their father as he made his rounds around the winter woods. It only took one direct question from Dagny about something innocuous like pine cones for Delia J to blow up and dramatically take off flying for home. In her little self centered bubble of rage she'd barely even noticed, or even really processed that Lux had followed her at some point until they were both hitting the back wall. Kicking hard at the door, Delia J glared up at Lux through red tear filled eyes and put her hands on her hips. "How is it definitely my fault? I'm not heavy enough to knock snow down like what, it was you just as much, if not more than me. Where'd you even come from anyway? No one asked you to be here."

Lux scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly, as if she wasn’t totally right. He hated that she usually was. “Well if you hadn’t been flying like a madwoman, I wouldn’t have followed you!” he retorted, before giving a sigh at her question. “I came over here with Ember and she went home and I knew you were over here, so I decided to wait til you crossed over to go back,” he shrugged, as if that’s what anyone would say when asked that question. He really looked at her then, catching a glimpse of her red-rimmed eyes, and furrowed his brow. “What happened? What were you flying away from?” he asked, his tone going slightly more tender than anticipated.

Delia J rolled her eyes and scoffed right back. "Did you even think to consider that I might have been flying like a madwoman because fast flying is my literal talent?" She asked, raising an eyebrow when he said that he was waiting for her to go back to the warm side of pixie hollow. "That was completely unnecessary, I was just with my sister. Dagny doesn't care about who I'm pretending to date." She tripped slightly over her sisters name as she remembered exactly what she'd been flying from. Rubbing her eyes as if it would help at all with the redness or the tears that were still welling up in them, DJ turned back to the door and fruitlessly began kicking it again in an attempt to escape. "None of your business. I came here to be by myself, not to talk to you about it. "

Lux mirrored her eyeroll, crossing his arms over his chest. "I know y--" He hesitated to say that he knew her well enough to know that she had to have been running from something. He could just tell. "I know you weren't just flying to fly, okay?" Lux furrowed his brow, a little taken aback that she thought his gesture was part of their 'fake dating' thing. "Okay, I know Dagny doesn't care -- I was waiting for you cause you're my friend, I guess," he shrugged. He'd be lying if he said that he hadn't grown slightly fond of DJ in this time that they'd been 'dating'. She was cool, and feisty, and he enjoyed their downtime together almost as much as he enjoyed bickering with her. He watched her rub at her eyes some more, and continue to deflect. "Well, unless someone comes over here with like five shovels, you're stuck with me. You might as well talk to me about it."

Delia J couldn't help but raise her eyebrows in mild surprise at Lux saying that they were friends, even though she'd made a couple of pals in Lyssa and Clementine, after years of only having Alicia and Kale as her friends, she couldn't get over the suprise of anyone else calling her their friend. "Oh...Well you still didn't need to follow me" She huffed, kicking hard at the door one last time before finally walking away from it. Delia paused to think about whether or not she wanted to tell Lux about what happened, and after about half a second realized that he'd probably get what made her so upset more than anyone else she knew. Sniffling once and shoving her hands into her pockets, DJ turned to face Lux. "Well okay...remember when Sage had sex with some guy out of nowhere in the middle of homecoming? Well, my sister apparently slept with the boy I've been crushing on pretty much forever...on my birthday."

Lux gave a soft laugh at the girl's way of handling this situation by kicking at the door, letting her get the last word in before she let him in on why she was flying away so emotionally. Lux sat on the floor, wrapping his arms around his knees, feeling constricted in his winter coat, but hey -- if he didn't want his wings to freeze off, this was what he had to deal with. She started off by relating what was eating her to his disastrous homecoming experience, at first confusing him even more, but then when she elaborated, his jaw dropped. "Oh." Lux said aloud, scooting over to make room for her to sit next to him if she so pleased. "I'm -- that's -- that sucks like, ten times worse than what happened to me at homecoming, I'm sorry," he shook his head, still in disbelief that Dagny would do something like that to her. "Wait -- does she know that you like him? Cause if so, that's fucked-up times twenty and she is officially #NotMyPrincess," he proclaimed, even pronouncing the 'hashtag' for emphasis.

Delia J watched Lux scoot over to make room for her to sit, but remained standing in order to look for a way to heat the room up so that she and Lux wouldn't be stuck waiting all confined their coats. "It's fine. She didn't know. He's older than me, so I never really feel the need to talk about it with her. So she can still be your hashtag princess." Delia J shrugged half heartedly, before giving up and sitting down next to Lux. "It's just super hard to deal with her right now when I'm so upset about something that I can't ever blame her for doing. Apparently he's been sleeping on her couch and that's a way too romantic a set up to resist not hooking up."

Lux grimaced. Still, even if DJ had no shot with the guy, she must have been feeling like shit about this. "Well, either way, that's shitty, and even shittier that it happened on your birthday -- who gets laid on their little sister's birthday?" He gagged just thinking of spending Ember's birthday boning someone. What a weird thing to be thinking about at a time like that. But, he supposed, that whole party was just wild. When she sat next to him, Lux couldn't help but laugh at her claim. "Oh, yeah, bumming on someone's couch is so hot," he said sarcastically, "Whoever he is, he sounds like the sexiest hobo around." Lux smirked, hoping his jokes at her lame crush's expense would help the situation somehow.

Delia J laughed in spite of herself at Lux's reaction to Dagny having sex on her birthday. "I know right? But Dagny and M-the guy I like apparently do." DJ said, shrugging and focusing her attention on retying the laces of her boot. "Not the bumming on the couch part really. But being in such close contact with someone as nice and attractive as he is everyday? Hobo-ish or not, it makes a lot of sense why it happened. "

Lux scrunched his nose. "What a way to celebrate your life. Through one of life's simplest pleasures," he joked, noticing DJ start to get a little more comfortable with herself in this situation. It must have still sucked, but at least she was laughing. He gave a shrug, continuing to hug his knees as he watched Delia J retie her shoelaces. "Proximity attraction doesn't count as real attraction," he thought aloud, offering his two cents though she didn't ask for them. "Well, my piece of advice -- since I've been through this kind of -- is that it sucks for a while, and then you find other, better things to be concerned about." He shrugged, leaning his back against the wall as he remembered how it felt getting smacked in the face by reality at homecoming. He hated that DJ had to feel the same way, but if she was anything like him (resilient and stubborn, which he knew she was), she'd channel all of these emotions into something worth caring about. For example, he delved into preserving his reputation.

Delia J finished tying her shoes and dug her hands around in the pockets of her jacket for any kind of distraction to focus on while they were trapped there. "I'm aware. It just makes it a little worse that she tainted my birthday with something that wasn't even slightly real. " She muttered quietly, moving her hands into the pockets of her pants instead of her coat. "What other better things do you have to be concered about now?"

Lux scrunched up his nose. "I mean, it's only tainted in retrospect! You had a nice time on the day, right?" he asked. They'd practically been glued to each other's sides at that party, so maybe she hadn't had a nice time if it had to be spent with him. But he thought she had. Lux gave a shrug. He hadn't really had anything in mind when he said that, but things had just been....better lately, when he was so sure he'd feel heartbroken forever. "I mean, prom king prep...This whole thing -- " he gestured vaguely to the two of them, " -- keeps me busy and keeps my mind off of things, so I guess there's that, too."

Delia J sighed out loud when she found nothing interesting in any of her pockets but nail polish and either unable or just unwilling to sit still, moved to sit criss cross instead of with her legs straight out. "I guess." She admitted, fiddling with her zipper a little. "I don't really like parties and there's was that whole Kale and Ember being the worst thing. But for the most part it was pretty good." Delia J frowned and pursed her lips to consider if their little arrangement would even be helpful in keeping her mind off Marsh when he was most of the reason she agreed to do it in the first place. "This thing doesn't make you think about Sage sometimes though? After all she is the whole reason you had to resort to going for pity prom votes."

Lux felt a soft puff of air leave his nose in a chuckle, remembering the way Kale and Ember basically pressured them to kiss at the party, knowing they weren't real so really just to mess with them. "I mean, we probably would've had to kiss eventually anyway," Lux scrunched his nose, "Maybe it's good that we got that out of the way." He couldn't relate to her not liking parties -- Parties were one of the only things that made Lux feel as important as he imagined he was. He was always the life of the party, making sure there were never any dull moments. When DJ brought up Sage, Lux couldn't ignore the slight pang in his chest at her name. "No, actually," he said honestly, "At least, I don't feel as shitty as I did before when I do think about her. I guess I'm kind of getting over it. You're a good distraction." he shrugged, giving DJ's knee a nudge with his snow boot. "So we're stuck here til someone realizes we've been missing...Are you alright now?" His words were genuine, and the soft expression on his face said so.

Delia J nodded, Kale had said the exact same thing already, so she'd pretty much already accepted the kiss had been basicslly inevitable. "I know, but I still think I would've preferred having actual time to get my head around kissing a boy for the first time. I'm not really the spur of the moment type, y'know?" DJ shrugged and pulled her hat down over her ears. DJ was surprised and a little relieved when Lux admitted that he wasn't constantly thinking about Sage. Partially because it gave her hope that she'd stop feeling quite so terrible about Marsh banging her sister while she was supposed to be pretending to like a completely different boy. But mostly (and surprisingly) she was happy that Lux who she was slowly but surely beginning to view as a friend wasn't feeling so bad anymore and she'd had a hand in helping with that. "Oh! That's awesome! I'm totally holding you to return the favor, just so you know." She grinned slightly, nudging his boot back with her knee. "I think my dad and sister or Kale and Alicia should be looking for me by now." She said hopefully, sticking her hands into her pockets again. "Well I'm not crying anymore, so I think I am. Except now I'm just really bored sitting here like this and I don't really know what to do. " DJ pulled the little bottle of dark blue shimmering nail polish from her pocket. "Can I paint your nails? That would be a good start with you returning the distraction favor?"

Lux tried not to let the shock that their kiss at the party had been DJ's first. He knew she'd probably hate if he made a big deal out of it, or even questioned it, so he just nodded. "....Yeah. It's a good thing I'm impulsive enough for the both of us," he smirked, still a little freaking out about having been her first kiss without even knowing. He noticed the way she seemed to be genuinely happy that he called her a distraction, and felt himself match her grin. "Hey, if anyone's down to be distracting, it's me!" he exclaimed, gesturing to himself before giving a laugh. Glad that DJ was feeling better, Lux was about to offer ways to keep busy til they got found -- among his ideas were 'play charades' and 'have a dance party' so, luckily, she thought of her own idea on the spot. He furrowed his brow at her offer, before letting out a laugh and taking his hands out of his pockets, splaying his fingers out for her. "Sure. I can't say no to glitter, I guess," he shrugged nonchalantly but unable to keep a wide smile from appearing on his face. Anyone who knew them knew that they were an odd pair, that was for sure, but he found himself feeling that they might make a better team than anyone could have ever guessed.

#( interaction: delia j )#( feat: delia j )

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broodmother · 7 years ago

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I love your wendigo (?) au ficlet you wrote? Will you ever write more like what happens after?

thanks! i think writing what happens after would ruin the ending a bit there (i deliberately left it open to interpretation), but i can do a snippet of what happened before. warning for mcd. (prequel to this)

A Chinook wind blows in bad luck, they say: it coaxes men out of their winter coats with an unseasonable flush of warmth before plunging them back into winter when they’re laid bare. It softens the snow enough to send whole mountainsides crashing down on sleeping towns. It thins the ice at the foot of Blackfoot Falls just enough, god just enough, that it can’t bare the weight of the horse and sled that crossed it only days before, but not enough that they can break through from beneath.

It took a day to trek down the mountain on their sure-footed old mare, only a little faster than going by foot since she wasn’t cut for deep snow. It took two to come back when the sled was packed well enough, if the weather held. They could hold well enough for food if they’d been smart over the short summer, and kept up their trapping over winter, but there were some things you couldn’t hunt. Ren traded scraggly pelts for what he could get in town, stole the rest if he had to. They made do. They had no choice.

Hux’s anxiety had began to needle him even before Ren left, but after he had disappeared into the tree-line, it was almost unbearable. There had ridden his life-line, his last connection to the world. He hadn’t been to town in a long time; Ren was always better at the supply runs, somehow more adept among people even when he seemed more crow than man in his black rags. There was the tenuous chance that someone could recognise him, thin and bearded though he was, but truthfully Hux was still too raw, still too jagged around the edges. He always would be.

Hux, Ren, and a thousand acres of mid-mountain forest: it was a thin life, but it was their’s to live.

So, Hux waited. He checked his traps, and he waited. He hauled in another load of firewood to dry, and he waited. He scraped pelts and picked over bones, and god help him he waited - but when the Chinook wind died and the coal-bellied clouds began to roll in over the shoulder of the mountain like a shroud, he knew he could wait no longer, so he went.

It had been five days.

Hux found him a little more than a mile out, curled into the half-shelter of a rocky outcrop. His lips were blue and his damp clothes were frozen stiff, and all he had with him was a single sodden sack of supplies - canned goods, mostly, and not much else. Later, long after Hux managed to drag Ren back to the cabin, when the first fat flakes of the coming blizzard whipped into a true white out, he would remember that he forgot to go back for it, a mistake which could cost him his life in the jaws of winter.

He tried to work the colour back into Ren, as if there was much there in the first place. He burned a reckless amount of wood trying to keep the cabin warm, only for the winds to wick it away in an instant. He piled him with all the furs they had, left himself stiff and shivering as he tried to rub life back into blackish limbs, and in the moments when he dipped back into consciousness, Hux forced a week’s worth of food down his throat. He couldn’t keep any of it down, of course, but Hux didn’t know what else to do.

In a single, solemn moment of lucidity, he apologised to Hux for losing their only horse; she would still be under the ice come the spring melt, he assured him, and the meat would be fine if he could reach her before the first bears did. He then fell into a shallow, feverish sleep from which he did not wake.

It was surreal in a sense. He had seen surprisingly few men die during his lifetime, a benefit of his station, and certainly none of them had been in bed. He had heard plenty of milquetoast sayings about how easy it was to imagine they were simply sleeping, but Hux didn’t think so. There was an exact moment when Ren left him, when his trembling body feel still, with his pale lips parted and the hand clenched so tightly in his own went slack.

It was an ugly, evil way for a soldier to die, he thought; to lie down in bed and close his eyes and become a piece of meat. He considering kissing him farewell, as he had never had the chance in the hours before, but the thought of putting his lips to such cold and clammy skin made his stomach turn, and they had never been so sentimental in life.

Perhaps, if they had the chance.

He sat with the body for days, though largely not through any choice of his own. The blizzard outside raged on, a furious storm that howled and shrieked and tore at the house day and night in a way Hux wished he could emulate. It shook the door and pulled at the shutters, and he lay on the floor by the hearth with chapped lips and chilblains.

All too soon, it blew itself out, and Hux let part of himself go with it. The snow was banked up to the window ledge outside, and he had to face the fact that he had lost far more than a lover. He could let himself hurt when the spring melt came and the tears wouldn’t freeze on his cheeks; he had far to go if he wanted to survive the rest of winter.

He wrapped Ren in a threadbare sheet he’d been meaning to strip down for rags anyway. A meek slope of snow spilled into the cabin when Hux opened the door, and he his through his teeth at the sharp sunlight splintering off the brilliant white. He was numb to his thighs as he waded out as far as he could, shovel in hand, but a warm wind caressed his sunken cheeks.

A Chinook wind blows in bad luck.

#kylux #kylo ren #armitage hux #my fic #mcd #this is a pretty bleak and frank look of how ren died so like...be warned i guess #i hope it feels as tired as hux does #Anonymous #also i wouldn't call it a 'wendigo' au since i'm not native

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illyriantremors · 8 years ago

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Beneath the Stars Chapter 14

Chapter: I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII

AO3 Linkage

Summary: Feyre takes off with the inner circle to go camping for Thanksgiving weekend and feels at home for the first time in ages. Joking, laughter, and general merriment ensue before Morrigan decides to unload some feelings about a certain someone with Feyre on the final night that she'd been keeping to herself for too long.

Chapter 14

“You wear glasses??”

Mor nodded enthusiastically as she pulled out of the hug she had swallowed me whole in. She was a hugger, that one.

“Yes, but for Cheer I need contacts in. That’s why you never see me in them. I much prefer the glasses actually.” She adjusted the frames so they sat higher on her nose and gave a little squeak. “My eyes don’t hurt so bad when I take them off, though I think I look better without them.”

“You look fantastic either way and you know it. Right, Az?”

Mor’s cheeks colored a shade brighter than the sun. Azriel’s own were a set to match standing just a few feet away as he came out of the house with the boys. For the first time that I’d seen, Mor didn’t cover it up with her usual perkiness. She simply walked away.

Odd.

“Hey!” Cassian called to me enthusiastically, though it sounded a lot more like hay with about a million a’s stuffed between. Rhys spotted me, licked his lips, and leaned casually against the car while I talked to Cassian - waiting.

“So you made it after all, huh?” Cass asked.

“Yeah, you know, turkey’s not really my thing, so I thought I’d toss in with you losers and see what this camping business is all about. That is...” and I stole a glance at Rhys. “If it’s okay with you all.”

No one said anything, waiting for the only one who had to give his consent to answer. Rhys looked me in the eye and I watched his face soften before he nodded.

“Pft!” Cassian shoveled over to the car and pulled on the handle to the trunk with a grunt at Rhys to “Shove off, dude.” The door lifted and inside were more ice coolers than there were actual camping materials. I gave a ghost of a chuckle and noticed Rhys hadn’t removed his gaze from me.

“Please tell me you haven’t tricked me into opening a catering business with you and that there will be actual trees and camping on this trip?”

Cassian crossed his arms and leaned next to where Rhys had shuffled. “Please tell me that you were lying when you said turkey’s not really your thing and you’ll be stuffing your face full of it all weekend?”

“You mean this isn’t all for you?”

Like a puppet on one of those horrible video arcade games, Mor shot up over the backseat of the car without warning and shouted, “Hell no! A girl’s gotta eat. That entire cooler is mine and all you stupid pricks aren’t touching it, ha-ha.”

Several things happened at once. If this had been a movie, I would have seen it in slow motion, some cheesy instrumental music likely playing in the background.

Mor grinned from ear to ear at her own vibrancy, a move only she could pull off. At the same moment, Az lifted a set of tents over the coolers and noticeably rolled his eyes at Mor in all her eternal sunshine, but not without that little smile fighting its way onto his lips. Cassian shook his head, an amused, “Oh fuck me,” escaping him as he prepared for several more hours trapped in the car with all of us. And Rhys just sort of quietly chuckled at it all.

And so did I.

I laughed and I laughed and I laughed until I couldn’t stop, the sounds bursting out of me so loud, any neighbors who weren’t already up were bound to start peaking out their windows grumpily to see what was screeching in the streets.

Everything felt too perfect. There were little cracks here and there. If you squinted, you could see them in the silent tension between Mor and Az, or the frustrating comments from Cass everyone blew off constantly.

But nobody cared. This was, I realized, what a family looked like. And I had the privilege of being deliriously, happily a part of it.

“You broke her,” Az said. He was almost even smiling at me.

“I told you she’d be good fun in the end, didn’t I?” Mor said. “Come on, let’s go! I’d like to get this stupid car ride over with and tents pitched by sundown, if that’s okay with you guys.”

“Do we have any choice?”

“SHOTGUN!”

Mor, already closest to the front seat, darted forward and claimed the prize before anyone could stop her. Cassian groaned, loud enough for Mor to hear.

“But,” Az said, looking confused and if I wasn’t wrong, maybe a tad bit hurt. “Isn’t Cassian driving?”

“Yeah,” Rhys said somewhat reluctantly for Cass, who trudged along to the driver’s side. “He is.”

Az nodded and got quietly into the car himself. He sat in the middle seat, not quite in Mor’s line of sight. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, I wasn’t sure.

I took my backpack and sleeping bag and added it to the monstrosity of a pile that had become the trunk. It was a wonder it all fit or that we’d even been able to see Mor over it all. Rhys waited while I tossed my stuff aboard.

When I was done, he just stood there looking at me.

“What?” I asked.

He promptly closed the trunk door and put his hands in his pockets. We were standing closer than I would have anticipated given that he wasn’t talking to me, but I wasn’t going to get my hopes up again, so I waited for him to speak first.

And when he didn’t, I’ll admit I cracked inside a tiny bit. “Rhys, I-” but he stopped me by walking purposefully towards me until he was inches away boring the entirety of those beautiful eyes into me, stealing the breath I didn’t want him to have lest I never get it back. Those eyes seemed to search me for a century, dancing back and forth over my features considering how far into me they should go. And oh I wanted them to go so terribly far. Much further than I had dared to think I could want before.

“You should laugh more often,” he said at long last. His eyes turned sad - almost lost. “You’re exquisite when you do, Feyre.”

There. That was where I wanted to melt right into him. He was so beautiful. So utterly broken and beautiful in ways I hadn’t even begun to imagine.

A smile, just something soft and sweet for his compliment, worked its way out of me and I wanted to broaden it into something just for him, but a loud slam on the car horn ruined those plans. Cassian rolled down the window and shouted, “Get in the house or get in the car - your choice!”

“Cassian!” I could hear Mor hiss, even standing outside.

Rhys chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. “Come on. We’ve got a long ride ahead of us. Best get it over with.”

A long, long ride indeed.

The drive up to Arrowhead took a few hours once holiday traffic was factored in. Even on Thanksgiving day itself, the freeways were jammed as badly as 8am work traffic on the 405.

But it was nice in a way to just sit in the car and watch the world disappear out the window for a couple hours as cement was ground into solid earth and buildings because thick, beautiful trees full of greenery. It was nice to see that some parts of California still had greenery. In a matter of weeks, maybe even days, these mountains would be covered in snow.

The car was loud the entire way up. Rhys and I didn’t speak much directly to each other, but a calm sort of peace seemed to have momentarily settled between us - a cease fire until we could talk properly.

Shit - I was just happy he was talking to me again and trying very hard not to think about what he’d said about my laugh or why it had made him look so horribly miserable.

Similarly, Mor seemed to have turned a cold shoulder on Az. He was silent as usual, chiming in only here or there to offer his witticisms and one-off comments, but Mor would simply shield herself every time. I was going to have to pester her about that later after all the hell she’d given me over Rhys.

Cassian was the one who glued us together. He bickered constantly with Mor every time she took his chips or changed the radio station, gave Rhys and Az a hard time over who could pitch their tent the fastest, and by the time we were pitching said tents at the campsite, I’d had enough of ‘turkey’s not my thing’ remarks to last me enough Thanksgivings for the rest of my life.

It was wonderful.

Amren was waiting for us by the time we arrived. The car doors exploded open and all three of the boys flew out at lightning speed, grabbing tents and poles and stakes, racing to see who could win the bet.

“By all means, be savage about it,” she said by way of greeting.

“You know I’m always available to show you savage anytime, Amren love,” Cassian said with a snarl as he dumped his materials on the ground and set to work.

“An invitation I’ll never extend, as you damn well know.” She directed her attention to me and stated factually, “boys are disgusting sometimes.”

“That they are, eh Mor?”

Mor didn’t seem to hear me. She was staring fixedly at Azriel as he worked much more slowly than either of his brothers to set up his tent. Her body was stiff and straight as a rod, arms crossed squarely over each other. I could have snapped her in half like that.

“Say, Morrigan?” I tapped her casually and she blinked wearily at me with an oblivious, “Hmm?” Oh, she had it bad for the boy and he had no idea, though he undoubtedly wished he did.

“Nothing,” I laughed. “Amren was just about to show us her sweet camper, yeah, Am?”

“I suppose,” she huffed.

“Why’d you bring this thing? No sleeping bag for you?”

“Don’t be stupid, Feyre. You know my standards are higher than that.”

The camper was small, but perfect enough to store extra supplies and keep a single occupant warm. She’d have to use the camp ground facilities to wash up since this was just a simple popup, but it would do nicely.

Mor hopped up onto one of the two single beds. “Cassian snores,” she said. “Amren’s the only one with any forethought to bring her own accommodations when we go camping. I’m surprised they didn’t care that you ditched out on them this year.”

“My parents have never been traditional. You know that.”

“Still, I would have thought you’d have prefered Aruba or whatever glamorous place your family was off to next for Thanksgiving compared to this.”

“Hey,” I said, jumping up to take a spot next to her. “I happen to find this all very glamorous.”

“Oh good grief, Feyre. Wait until Cass starts snoring. You’ll find a whole new definition of glamour. So what happened with your family.”

I blew out hot air, my lips vibrating together as I made an exasperated noise. “I don’t really know anymore. One minute we were gonna maybe make something work and the next we weren’t. Dad very clearly didn’t have any plans and he seemed happier thinking I was out with actual friends than stuck at home fussing over him, so... here I am.”

“You little prick!”

All at once, the three of us made for the door and stepped back outside. Rhys was finishing up his tent and Cassian didn’t look like he was far behind, except that Azriel’s tent was already finished and by the looks of it, he’d taken a few extra stakes to add to his supply pile - Cassian’s stakes.

And then, at precisely the same moment Azriel unleashed a rare smug grin, Cassian launched himself at his brother. Az slid hard in the dirt taking his shirt with him through a bit of mud. He grappled with Cassian and tugged his shirt clean off so that his chest was exposed - complete with a smooth, solid expanse of skin and muscles for the scars of his hands to disappear into.

The pair untangled themselves and Az choked out a laugh, another rarity coming from him, and he and Cass began to circle each other.

“Uh, is this normal?” I asked, not sure whether I should try and break it up or let it be.

Amren snorted. “Of course it’s normal. Haven’t you seen these morons on the field?”

“Football season is almost over,” Mor said, but she sounded rather distant. Her mouth was hanging slightly open and her eyes were starting to gloss over. I didn’t have to think hard to guess what she was staring at. “Wrestling starts when we get back from winter break. They’ll be, well…”

She never finished her sentence. Just took one good, long look at Az and walked towards the car with a frown. “Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said waving me off over her shoulder and it was the most lifeless I’d ever heard her. I didn’t care what she said. Something was wrong.

And it was like that the entire weekend we camped, but as long as Mor kept her distance from Az, we had a good time.

Cass and Rhys co-conspired to throw Amren in the lake and succeeded, much to their regret when she put dirt in their turkey sandwiches later that night, Azriel quietly chuckling over the matter in his corner of the campfire. I brought my sketch pad out and started drawing up charcoal sketches of everyone when they weren’t looking. Mor sunbathed to work out her uneven tan lines.

And we slept. Goodness, how we all slept and slept and slept.

But the best moments by far were around the campfire late at night when we were up past the campsite curfew and should have been in bed, but we didn’t care. The sound of the fire crackling against the dark and quiet trees was enough to keep us going. That and the s'mores.

“Who knew turkey sandwiches could taste as good as the real thing?” I mumbled through a big bite of turkey, bread, and that terrible over-processed cheese our country couldn’t get enough of.

Cassian sat across the fire from me and smirked. “I told you turkey was your thing.”

“All of this is my thing,” I said. “All of the camping even when it gets freezing cold in the middle of the night. The jumping into random lakes and Amren’s own personal portable hotel on wheels. You guys are wonderful.”

“Aww.” Mor smushed herself against my side and rested her head on my shoulder. We looked at Amren dozing off in her chair across from us and Mor sighed. “You like us.”

“I can no longer deny what was always going to be inevitable.” She giggled and I felt her charm, my own laughter joining hers. Every time I did, I found Rhys staring at me with a most calm, pleased expression settling over him. I picked up my soda can and raised it up high against the backdrop of flames. “To friends,” I said. “Happy Friendsgiving.”

“Happy Friendsgiving,” Mor said adding her own can to clink lightly against mine.

The boys did the same though I wasn’t so sure their cans were filled with purely soda. We lapsed into a happy silence for a short while after watching the fire dance, watching each other live. The sun was going to come up in only a matter of hours to drag us back home to school and families and I didn’t want to leave.

Rhys cleared his throat and all eyes turned. “So there may be a slight inconsequential problem with the dance…”

“Oh we’re not really going to discuss SBC now are we??” Mor said as she snapped herself off me. “This is a vacation, damn it!”

“Why do you think I waited until it was almost over to bring it up?” Mor tossed back her hair flippantly, but didn’t protest either. Rhys pressed on. “The school gym flooded.”

“What?” Az groaned. No doubt his engineer’s mind was already running over the logistics of that one.

Rhys stared into the fire before daring to meet his cousin’s horrified shock. “It’s not gonna be repaired until after Christmas. We’re gonna need a new venue for the dance.”

“You have got to be joking. Please tell me you’re joking. I bought a dress! Not to mention we’ve been planning this for weeks and - oh Feyre, you made such pretty posters!”

She wound her arm through mine, the picture of absolute catastrophe and I had to stifle my laugh at how exaggerated she could be sometimes. “I can make more for the new venue. It’s fine, Mor.”

“If we find a venue,” Cassian chimed in. “Who the hell is gonna let us rent a space on this kind of budget?”

“It can’t be all that bad,” I said. “I mean, nearly the entire senior class is going and at the rate we sold tickets for-”

“You’d be surprised what some places will charge,” Az said. “And knowing our dynamic duo’s proclivity for the extravagant…” Mor pointedly ignored his look, so he turned to Rhys who gave the faintest flick of his brow. “It’s not going to be easy.”

“There must be something.”

“With stars and lights and champagne? Fat chance.”

“Maybe not on the champagne front, Mor. We are only 18 - sort of. Most of us. I highly doubt they’ll let us have alcohol.”

“Not gonna stop me…” Cass said before tipping back his can of whatever Felix Felicius he’d picked up.

“But the rest doesn’t seem too awful. Somewhere’s gotta have something at a decent price.”

Rhys stretched out his legs leaning towards me. As he edged closer, the light from the fire illuminated his skin casting shadows that wove about him with a dark, mysterious glow. Something about seeing him at a bonfire was starting to feel a little heady for me.

“So put that beautiful brain of yours to work, Feyre darling. Where exactly do you propose we go?”

I tried to hide my shiver as he said my name like that, something I hadn’t heard out of him for a while. I didn’t realize until he said it just how much I’d grown fond of the term, ironic given how I used to berate him for it so constantly.

Starfall conjured memories of mom and dad in the snow with cocoa and quiet. That wasn’t quite right for a dance.

The Starfall we wanted was exactly the opposite - still nighttime, but warm and dark and full of grass and gardens as opposed to snow. There needed to be a space for music and for food and somewhere people could escape if it got too cold outside and still feel decadent. And it had to come on a budget, which meant one of us would likely have to have an in to get the space, but the only place I could think of that ever made me feel remotely close to what we wanted Starfall to be was… was…

Rhys smiled right before I did. And when I released mine, it was free and unrestrained and directed entirely at him.

“Oh I think I might know just the place, Rhysand darling,” I said. I didn’t know where we were going with this or why he was letting the flirtation start again when I wasn’t even really sure he’d forgiven me yet for what I’d said. I’d barely had a chance to properly apologize as it was.

But Rhys’s smile was as wide and satisfied as my own as he purred, everyone else around us completely forgotten for a brief moment in the night, “Tell me everything, Feyre.”

And so I did.

I was almost asleep snuggled deep inside my sleeping bag when my tent mate pulled me away from the enticing call of sleep.

“I have an A+ in Calculus.”

I had no idea what Mor’s Calculus grades had to do with anything, but she said it so matter-of-factly and yet so downhearted at the same time, I was forced to roll back over and stay awake.

“What?” I groaned, my voice already sounding groggy like it certainly would for a good hour after waking up in the morning.

“I have an A+ in Calculus.” Still clueless, I kept silent and waited for her to go on. “You would think after two straight years of tutoring me he would get that I’m not sticking around for the grades.”

Ah, that.

“I mean, my grades were top marks when I met him. He had no idea that I was passing everything with flying colors, but after so much time and when it’s no longer any big secret that I’m not just some dumb cheer chick like people think and he knows the schools I’m applying to and they’re good schools and you’d need a good Calc grade to get in and so obviously I must have that right? Right?”

She was talking very, very fast and my brain was having trouble working out how it all connected, so I merely agreed, “Right.”

“Exactly! He has to know I don’t need his help anymore. I show him my tests. I do just fine without him. So obviously I’m still getting tutoring because… he should have known that I’d… I thought he would… I don’t know what I thought.”

Her voice cracked. It was probably a good thing it was so dark inside our tent because I had a feeling she might start crying if I wasn’t careful.

“What happened?”

I heard a huge sigh, one that was sad and defeated. “We were walking out of AP Gov to go to lunch after fifth period on the last day of school. This guy from the football team - Eris?”

“Never met him.”

“Yeah, well he noticed us walking and came up to ask me to go to Winter Formal with him.”

“And you said....?”

“I told him I’d think about it and let him know after break because I wasn’t sure if I was possibly going with someone else already. He took it well and left, and then I looked at Azriel because I’d been thinking about what you said and wondering if maybe he’d... Ugh. He wouldn’t say anything, Feyre. His opportunity was there and I was making it perfectly clear I meant for him to ask me and he just insisted we go to lunch and look at the time! and he was so perfectly fucking Azriel about it all in his stupid dark denim jeans and sometimes when he’s stressed out like he was then his eyes get all squinty. I don’t think he notices really, but they do and he starts finding places to hide his hands as if I haven’t seen them a million times already. I mean, the guy tutors me twice a week and we share pens, for goodness sake! There has been definite touching and the nerve of him to - what are you laughing at?!”

I stifled my mouth as best I could and tried not to wake up the entire campsite. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just - you have got the hots for him so bad.” I broke, unable to contain my fit any longer.

I was expecting a signature “Feyre Archeron!” or maybe even a playful shove, but Mor just broke out into her own breathless laughter. “Ugh - it’s true! You are so, so, so right. I’m screwed! Feyre, he’s so yummy, I can’t help it. Sometimes I just stare at his forearm while we work on Calc homework just so I can watch the muscles move while he writes. And fuck me - did you see him with his shirt off in the mud when we got here? Kill me now.”

“Not that I have any interest in taking your beautiful boy away from you, but yes. He was a sight to behold. Is that why you’ve been so cold on him this weekend? He didn’t ask you to the dance?”

“I know it’s terrible and pretty selfish. I just never thought he liked me back until you said something and then I thought, well, maybe, but I was still doubtful. He’s so good to people. Says yes to everything if it means he can help out somehow and I thought that’s all I was to him - another favor.”

“Uh-uh, no way.”

“Trust me. You don’t know Az like I do. In some ways, I don’t think he thinks he’s very useful so he tries to make up for it. It’s why he hides his hands so much. Has he ever told you why he has all those scars?”

I shook my head once before remembering Mor couldn’t see me in the dark and amended myself to say no. I remembered, though, that first day in the car when Rhys came to help me move. He’d mentioned Az living next door to him and meeting him and Cass, but the car had gone silent when the mention of why he might have moved came up.

“I don’t want to get into all the details. It’s his story to tell and not everyone knows about it. But he was in a fire when he was in middle school. Something to do with his family. They’re a million times worse than mine on that front, but anyhow, a neighbor pulled him out and by that point it was too late for his hands to heal, but the damage wasn’t enough for a skin graph. I don’t think he’s ever felt normal or worthwhile since.”

Surprised, horrified, sorrowful - that didn’t even begin to cover how I felt and I only knew the surface details. I was debating what might be appropriate to say, how to come back from that when Mor just barely whispered, “But I love him to the moon and back, so…” If she hadn’t been crying before, she definitely was now, slowly and gingerly. “I just really thought he might ask me, you know. Oh well.”

She added in a flippant chuckle, a feeble attempt to brush it off. Typical Morrigan.

“So why don’t you ask him?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You said it yourself. He doesn’t think he’s worthwhile. He probably misread your signal when Eris asked you out - probably missed it altogether or just plain old panicked. It’s not like Azriel’s very forthcoming.”

“Heh, no. He’s not.”

“So go ask him! Every time you’ve had your back turned or ignored his comments this week, the boy’s face has been worse than a Jackson Pollock. Trust me, he’s into you. Go ask him.”

I could just picture her face working it out in her head flustered and furious and adamant. “You know what. You’re right. I’m going to ask him.”

“Good for you!”

“Right now!” Her sleeping bag was suddenly unzipped and Mor dumped half of it on me as she scrambled up and shrugged a pullover on.

“Wha-what? Now?”

“Why not.” It wasn’t a question.

“It’s like two in the freaking morning! He’s gotta be asleep. Can’t you wait until-”

“NOPE!”

She unzipped the tent and darted out, but she didn’t leave until she’d snuck her head back inside and said, “Good luck with my cousin,” with a merciless snicker.

“Wait - what are you talking about?”

“Rhysey’s gonna have to go somewhere when I kick him out of Az’s tent and with the way Cassian snores and Amren’s camper only sleeping one, that just leaves....”

I grabbed for the tent to stop her, but she zipped it closed in my face openly cackling at me as she ran off to where the boys were sleeping. I fell back on my pillow staring wide-eyed at the dark point of the tarp above me wondering what would happen.

That intoxicating minute at the cafe on karaoke night came to mind. Rhys sleeping next to me - shit, Rhys sleeping next to me - he’d be close enough to touch me like that again, assuming he still wanted to.

Did he want to???

Somewhere in between the keyboard stew of letters bombarding my brain, my breathing picked up and I had to close my eyes so I could focus on chilling out.

But the seconds ticked by quickly fading into minutes and I knew Mor had gotten what she’d wanted. I’d heard it loud and clear in the next tent as she kicked Rhys out and he begrudgingly went along with it. And yet - no Rhys.

I was alone.

It didn’t have to be a big deal. He’d just chosen snoring over freaking me out. Mor was wrong. Simple as that.

But somehow, I found myself unzipping my tent and peaking my head out just to make sure he was okay, that he wasn’t sitting outside his tent waiting to be let back in at some point. I already knew Mor wasn’t letting that happen. The second she got past that zipper, she wasn’t coming back out.

He wasn’t sitting next to his tent and I was going to let it go, assume he’d picked Cassian for whatever myriad of reasons, when my gaze caught on the hill above our campsite. Rhys was a distant figure laying on the grass in the open air while he stared up at the stars.

It was hard to tell, but I didn’t think he had anything with him save maybe a pillow. It was cold outside - freezing by California standards. He couldn’t have been comfortable up there and Mor had left her sleeping bag behind, so technically I could just give it to him and call it a night…

Consequences be damned. I wanted to know where he and I stood and take a chance to apologize in person finally.

I grabbed both sleeping bags and the pillows and trudged up that hill towards him.

Towards Rhys.

#myfic #beneath the stars #beneath the stars: a feysand fic #bts #feysand #feyre #rhysand #feysand fanfiction #moriel #morrigan #azriel #moriel fanfiction #acomaf #acomaf fanfiction

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