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imagineyourworld-old · 4 years ago

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The Duchess and the Captain (Part One)

Captain Rex x Fem!Duchess!Reader

Summary: Regency AU! Marrying Duke Palpatine was not your idea of a perfect marriage, but meeting a certain Captain in his personal guard might make up for it.

Warnings: This is in no way historically accurate and the names I came up with are truly terrible, mentions of sex

Check out my other works: Masterlist

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Of course you had always known you’d one day have to marry a man your parents chose for you. And yet you couldn’t stop hoping and wishing that you wold marry a handsome, kind man, maybe even someone close to your own age instead of the older men your friends were married off to. But these dreams stopped the moment your parents told you who they had chosen as your husband. “Duke Palpatine is a very respectable man with a huge fortune”, your mother had told you. “He will provide for you and any children you will have”, your father had added. “And he’s old, if you’re lucky he’ll die sooner rather than later”, your brother had tried to console you. Of course your parents hadn’t appreciated that comment. But now here you were, in a carriage larger than any you had ever traveled in, on your way to your new home. Just hours after the wedding ceremony your new husband, though part of you still refused to call him that, had told you he’d need to leave for one of his many estates first thing in the morning. And after the wedding night, which you refused to think about, he left with most of his men, leaving you to travel to your new home without your husband. “I can tell you miss him already”, your mother smiled. She was accompanying you to your new home and would stay a few weeks to help you get settled until the Duke’s return. You turned away from the landscape you had been looking at through the window. Deep down you knew you had no reason to be mad at your mother, all she had done was make sure you were married to a wealthy man. It wasn’t her fault you were not allowed to choose your own husband, nor that Palpatine had proposed and your father had accepted the offer. In fact, you didn’t even know whether your mother had any say in the decision. “It’s hard to miss someone you only knew for a single day, even if that someone is your husband”, you told her. Just as she opened her mouth to reply the carriage came to a sudden halt and a moment later someone knocked on the door. You opened it just a little bit to reveal General Skywalker, the leader of the troop of your husband’s personal guard that was accompanying you. “General”, a small smile found its way to your lips at the sight of the friendly face and you opened the door a bit wider. “Why are we stopping?” The young General bowed his head ever so slightly while still keeping eye contact. “We were just informed that part of the way was flooded due to heavy rains last night, your Grace. I thought it best to stop at this inn for tonight and continue our journey tomorrow.” You tried your best to smile politely, even though this unexpected stop was the last thing you wanted right now. “Of course, General.”

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Just a few minutes later General Skywalker lead you into the main room of the small inn, your mother following with the Captain, whose name you had not yet learned. “If you’ll allow, my lady, I will arrange the rooms while you wait with Captain Rex”, the General said. He turned around to look at the other man and you did the same. Of course you had noticed him from a distance, but from up close you could see that his eyes were not dark, but a light caramel brown and even hints of brown roots where his hair was growing out. “I will be just fine with the Captain. Thank you, General.” Only a moment after General Skywalker left another man approached you. He looked so much like the Captain, you assumed they must be related somehow. He bowed to you and your mother before turning to the Captain to tell him something in a quiet tone. “ “Alright, Fives”, the blond agreed after a while. Just as the other man turned to leave, however, your mother asked him to escort her back to the carriage to get some personal belongings she didn’t want anyone else to get their hands on. “You don’t mind waiting here for me, do you, darling?”, she asked you. You shook your head and just a second later you were alone with the Captain. You tried your hardest not to look at him and inspect your surroundings instead, but you could feel his eyes on you. His stare, though burning, felt protective and comfortable rather than threatening, but after a while it made you face him nonetheless. “Is there something you want to say to me, Captain?”, you asked in your best Duchess voice, a tone you still needed to practice a lot more based on the glint in his eyes. “Nothing at all, your Grace.” You nodded. A small smile graced his handsome face and there was a certain warmth in his eyes you did not expect from someone in your husband’s guard. “I must admit, you are not like I expected you to be”, he finally said after a moment of silence. You knew it wasn’t his place to say such things, and based on the shadow that took over his features he knew as well, but you couldn’t help but be intrigued. “I do hope that’s a compliment”, you said with a smile. The first real smile, you suddenly realized, in weeks. The Captain nodded. “It most certainly is. You are younger than I expected, kinder, and more beautiful as wel-” “Captain”, General Skywalker interrupted his kind words. Any warmth disappeared from the Captain’s face as realization set in. He stood up even straighter than before as he turned to face the General. “I am sorry, sir. I should not have said those things.” Even though you barely knew the man you could tell General Skywalker was fighting a smile and there was a hint of amusement behind his sinister expression. “You should apologize to the Duchess, not to me, and hope she was not offended by what you just said.” The Captain turned back to you with a blush on his face. He wore a schooled look of remorse and respect, but there was just a hint of fear in his eyes. “I was not offended, Captain Rex. Quite the opposite, you paid me very kind compliments and I should hate for you to be punished for that.” Your last words were directed more at the General than the Captain. “T- Thank you, my lady”, the blond stuttered with a look of utter relief on his face. You would have liked to say something else, maybe even compliment him in return, but your mother’s arrival destroyed any thought of that. “I would like to be shown to my room now”, she said. Her words, her posture and her tone made you realize how inappropriate your conversation with the Captain had been. A Duchess should demand respect and not talk to her guard as if he were her friend, even if that guard was good looking and nice and made her feel like a person for the first time in a while.

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You stood in front of the grandest and most beautiful house you had ever seen in your life. How this could be called a house instead of a palace was, quite frankly, beyond you. There were more windows than you could count, a polished facade and flowers growing all around it. You could hear a soft “oh” coming from your mother, who stood a few feet behind you. It would take you a while to get used to the fact that your mother, being a lady, would now always stand behind you, the Duchess of Empireshire. In front of the house stood the servants, from the butler and the housekeeper to the gardeners and kitchen maids. As if on command they bowed or curtsied the moment your eyes landed on them. When they came up again a good looking man with a well kept beard approached you, followed by a beautiful woman with the kindest eyes you had ever seen. “Allow me to introduce myself, your Grace. I am the butler, Obi-Wan Kenobi. And this is Satine Kryze, the housekeeper. Welcome to Senatehall.” You gave both of them a smile you hoped looked graceful, even though you felt incredibly out of place. In this moment you were supposed to have your husband by your side, to take your hand and guide you to your new home. Though you supposed being alone was favorable to having Palpatine with you. “Thank you, Kenobi, Kryze.” At least you knew how to address your new employees. “Thank you for this kind welcome. I am very much looking forward to exploring this breathtaking house, but for now all I want is to retire, preferably with a cup of tea.” You could almost sense your mother’s nod of approval. This was how a Duchess was supposed to behave, not getting lost in a Captain’s eyes in a roadside in. A Captain you had not even seen all day. “Certainly, my lady”, Kryze, though you couldn’t help calling her Satine in your mind, said. She waved and a young woman approached. She could not be much older than you were, though you considered her to be a whole lot prettier. “This is Padmé. She will be your lady’s maid, unless of course you brought your own with you.” You shook your head to tell her that you had not. In fact, you had never even had your own lady’s maid and had shared one with your mother your whole life. “It is nice to meet you,Padmé.” She smiled. “Nice to meet you too, my lady. Would you like me to show you to your rooms?” With a single nod from you Padmé ushered you inside. Though you could see how beautiful and expensive everything was on the inside, you were too tired to actually pay attention to anything. “I hope everything is to your liking. I took the liberty to redecorate a bit, but of course you’re free to change anything you like”, Padmé said as she opened one of the doors in the very long hallway. She stepped aside to let you enter and you found yourself in a stunning sitting room. Two small sofas were in the middle of the room with a table between them. The walls were lined with shelves, some filled with books, other with small trinkets or flowers. Next to the huge windows overlooking the park stood a small writing desk with nothing but a picture of your husband on it, which you decided to ignore for now. “Padmé, it is beautiful”, you told the other woman. She lowered her head in thanks, but you could see a smile gracing her lips. “I am glad. Would you like to see the bedroom and the bathroom before your tea arrives?” The bedroom was just as beautiful, though a bit smaller. Two wardrobes stood on both sides of the door, a vanity table next to the window and a small nightstand with a bouquet of flowers next to the bed. The bed, however, took up most of the room. It was gigantic, bigger than any bed you had seen before, and beautiful with its soft pink blankets, matching pillows and canopy hanging around it. But it made you nervous as well. You hated thinking about what would eventually have to happen in that bed, and who it would happen with. One night had been more than enough and your husband had not hurt you, it had been nothing like the sweet and romantic experience your friend Nova had described to you in whispers after her own wedding night. Other than the bedroom and the sitting room, the bathroom was nothing special. Still pretty, but mostly practical. “You’re tea is here, my lady”, Padmé called from the sitting room, but you barely registered her words. The other woman entered the bedroom just a second later. “Are you alright, your Grace?” It was only when you felt her hand on your shoulder that you were awaken from your trance. “I’m fine, thank you. Could you help me loosen my corset, though? I can barely breath in this thing.” Padmé got straight to work. She helped you undress and loosed the string of your corset a bit. Immediately you felt freer and could actually take deep breaths. “Is that better, my lady?” You nodded in relief. “Much, thanks. Though I wish you’d stop calling me that, I am (Y/N).” Though Padmé stood behind you, you could see her from the vanity mirror. She shook her head, but a smile was on her lips. “I don’t think I can to that. It’s not proper.” You turned around. Being alone with someone your age, having your corset loosened and finally realizing your position made you desperate. “I know. Believe me, I know. But we’re going to spend a lot of time together and I would be more comfortable if you called me by my name. Plus, I need a friend since I don’t know anyone here and I’m hoping you might be that friend and friends call each other by their first names.” This time Padmé saw no other choice but to agree.

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Being alone for the first time since the wedding and the warm tea in your stomach made you more relaxed than you had been for a while and before you knew it you were asleep. When you woke you didn’t remember even falling asleep, nor why you had woken up. Only the warm and secure feeling the dream gave you remained, until your growling stomach made even that disappear. You sat up from the rather uncomfortable position on the sofa and looked around the room. The moon outside was illuminating most of it and a small fire did the rest, nonetheless you were shivering. Quickly you made your way to the bedroom, where you found a warm, soft robe folded at the foot of the bed. You slipped it on while your stomach growled again. Back in the sitting room the clock on the bookshelf told you that it was already half past nine. Which was way past dinner time and made you wonder why no one had woken you up to eat. But you decided not to dwell on the though, instead you opened the door and slipped into the hallway. It was dark, only a few candles were lit along the walls, but they gave you enough light to find your way downstairs to the entry hall. From there on, though, you had no idea where to go. Finally, after trying to remember whether Padmé had even told you what direction the kitchen was in, you headed down another hallway. This one was darker than the one upstairs, and colder as well. You shivered in your thin dress and robe, but didn’t want to give up your search for the kitchen. “Who’s there? Reveal yourself!”, a stern voice sounded from your right. Though you knew it wasn’t the smartest move, you yelped and turned around with wide eyes. “I- Miss (Y/N), no, wait! Duchess (Y/N)”, you remembered your new title. Suddenly a door opened and illuminated the hallway. Due to the sudden brightness you didn’t recognize who stepped out, you only saw a tall, muscular man. You opened your mouth to scream for help, hoping someone would wake up and hear you, when the man spoke. “Your Grace, you really should not be here this late at night.” “Captain Rex?”, you asked, recognizing his voice. The Captain stepped closer so that you could finally see his face. His eyes seemed to be glowing in the dark hallway, though his eyebrows were crunched in confusion. “What are you doing here?”, he asked in an almost hushed voice and suddenly you realized how inappropriate the situation was. Though you were still dressed, your corset was looser than you were used to, you hair had come loose and parts of it hung down your back, not to mention that you were alone with him. “I was looking for the kitchen. I missed dinner because I fell asleep and now I’m awake and I’m hungry and I was hoping there might be some leftovers in the kitchen, or maybe at least some fruit. Maybe a couple of strawberries. I love strawberries, don’t you?” You knew you were rambling, but you had no idea why. This was now your house and you shouldn’t need excuses to be wandering the halls, no matter what time. You stood up straighter, prepared to tell the Captain as much should he say anything else. But he didn’t question you any further, instead he let out a low chuckle. “You’re as far from the kitchen as it gets. It’s downstairs, and that’s quite a maze itself. But if you let me I could guide you back to your room and you could send someone to get you a snack.” You had no idea what made you blush, his words or the sound of his laughter, but you felt your cheeks heat up and suddenly had the desire to pull the robe tighter around your body. “I actually don’t want to bother anyone, the servants should be asleep by now and-” “You really think they’re asleep already?”, he interrupted you. As soon as the words left his mouth his eyes darkened. “I’m sorry. I should not have interrupted you. Forgive me, your Grace.” As much as you disliked Padmé calling you “your Grace” and “my lady” hearing the Captain apologize was worse. “Please, feel free to interrupt me whenever I speak untruths. It’s a service, not an offense.” He nodded, but didn’t say anything else. Neither did you for a moment. “I still don’t want to inconvenience anyone. I will just go down to the kitchen and get a piece of bread or something. Perhaps you could point me in the right direction”, you finally said. The blond looked at you with raised eyebrows. He seemed to be thinking about what to say. “With all due respect, my lady, I don’t think you will find your way to the kitchen by yourself.” He stopped for a moment. “I could show you, if you want.” “Lead the way, Captain”, you said with a relieved smile. He didn’t lead the way, instead he walked right beside you, closer than he probably should. You kept glancing at him from the side. There was no denying that he was good looking, and nice as well, but he was just so stiff, as if he was afraid that putting a single toe out of line would get him punished. “Is General Skywalker very strict?”, you asked after a while. Partly to break the silence, but partly because that would explain his constant apologizing. For a millisecond the Captain stopped before he continued on his way. “He’s not. He is a good man, a bit reckless at times, but we are lucky to serve under him.” That statement only confirmed your suspicions. The General had not seemed strict, but rather kind, but what other explanation was there for the Captain’s behavior? Though maybe it was just in his character to be safe rather than sorry. “Where are you from, Captain?” From the corner of your eye you could see him raise an eyebrow. “Kamino. It is a small village in the North.” At first it seemed as if he wanted to add something, but he stayed silent and just kept walking. By now you were close to the entry hall again. “Do you have family?” As you walked through the entry way, which had better lighting, you could see more of his face. He was smiling, just a little bit, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes that almost made you reach out to touch his arm. You had already lifted your hand when you realized that that would make the already inappropriate situation even worse. “I have three brothers. Fives, Echo and Kix.” The first name sounded familiar and made you remember the other guard you had seen yesterday. “Fives is a guard as well, isn’t he?” The Captain nodded. He finally stopped in front of a door you almost didn’t see, it was half hidden behind a statue and painted the same color as the wall. He opened it and let you pass through first. You found yourself on top of a dark staircase, only a torch on the wall gave a bit of light. It was colder than in the main house, which made you wrap your robe tighter, and everything was stone, no carpets covering any of the surfaces. The Captain grabbed the torch and asked you to go on down the stairs. “He is. Echo as well. Kix is studying to become a doctor, though, like our father.” His voice got more and more quiet with every word, letting you know his father was dead without ever saying the words. “You must be proud of him. A cousin of mine studied medicine and told me how difficult it was.” Since the blond was now behind you you couldn’t see his face, but you could swear you heard a smile in his voice. “I am proud of all my brothers.” Before you knew it you had reached the bottom of the stairs and a moment later the Captain was beside you again. “Almost there”, he told you, to which your stomach responded with an embarrassingly loud growl. The closer you got to the kitchen the stronger the smell of fresh bread and warm tea got. Finally you stopped in front to the opened door to the largest kitchen you had ever seen. The room could probably fit a dozen cooks and three time as many kitchen maids, but right now there was only one present. A girl with her back to you stood in front of the last gleams of the oven fire and cut some fruits or vegetables. “Ahsoka”, the Captain said. The girl turned around. You could now see that she was pretty as well and started wondering whether everyone who lived and worked in this house was good looking. “Rex and, oh my! You’re the new Duchess!”, she exclaimed and fell into a deep curtsy. The look the Captain shot her had you imagining him with his brothers or disciplining guards. “You were not out front when I arrived”, you told the girl. Ahsoka shook her head before letting it hang low. “You know how they say children should be seen and not heard? Turns out a kitchen maid should not even be seen. I mean, I understand that I’m not much to look at in this dirty dress and ugly apron, but it’s not my fault I only get old hand-me-downs from the other maids. I still think I should get to see my new employee, since Duchesses usually don’t visit the kitchen”, she said with a sly smile. Next to you you felt the Captain stiffen, making you realize just how close you were standing to him. Though you blamed it on the cold, you had probably instinctively gotten closer to share body heat. “Ahsoka, you shouldn’t s-” “It’s fine, she’s right”, you interrupted the Captain before he could scold the girl without reason. You stepped closer to her, farther from the man next to you. “I was actually hoping to get a snack. I missed dinner, you see.” Her eyes lit up. “You want me to make you something to eat? No one ever wants me to make them something to eat.” You weren’t sure if her words meant you should rethink your decision, but she was so eager you couldn’t help but nod. “Why don’t you go over to the servants hall and I’ll bring you some food in a minute. And tea as well?” You nodded once again, but before you could finish the motion Ahsoka was already preparing a plate. You felt the Captain’s hand on your arm, making you turn and face him. He was closer than ever before, so close you could feel his breath on your face. Slowly you closed your eyes, just for a short moment, before opening them again and looking right into his. “Let’s sit down, Ahsoka will have your food ready soon.” Without another word he lead you by the elbow, out of the kitchen and into a room just across the hall. This room was darker and colder than the kitchen, no fire was burning and the space seemed sad and deserted. “Usually it’s full of life, but everyone else is asleep. Thanks to you not showing up to dinner there was a lot less work”, the Captain explained. His tone was far more casual than a few minutes earlier, he seemed more relaxed. Ahsoka entered the room before you could say anything, carrying a tablet with a steaming pot of tea, cups and a plate. “I’m afraid the food is not the dinner you’re used to, my lady. This late there is often not much left”, she said as she sat the plate filled with bread, cheese and fruit in front of you. Your eyes grew wider as you saw a couple of big, juicy strawberries and as if to tell you to eat them already your stomach growled once again. With a sly smile, hoping the others had not heard how desperate you were for food, you bit into the biggest strawberry. A loud moan escaped you and your face instantly blushed to match the fruit. If a growling stomach was something no one should hear, this sound was indefinitely worse. To your horror the Captain looked at you with wide eyes and even bit his lip, until he noticed you looking at him at least. Ahsoka, on the other hand, laughed. “Seems like you love strawberries as much as Rex here. I remember one time last summer he came rushing into the kitchen because he could apparently smell the strawberry marmalade we were making all the way from the stables. You should have seen the look on his face, it was-”, suddenly she interrupted mid sentence. She looked from Rex to you and back again, while you tried your best not to look at the Captain as well. “I shouldn’t have said that, I’m sorry, my lady.” She cast her eyes down as she started pouring a cup of tea, focused on the dark liquid in front of her. It took you a moment to realize what she had just apologized for. Having been raised in a much smaller and poorer house as a lord’s daughter, not a duchess, you were used to talking with the servants, being friendly, even if you weren’t exactly friends. “Please stop with the constant apologies, both of you. I’m glad to know more about the Captain and loving strawberries is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, I am much worse than the Captain. When I was little I once escaped from my governess to go to a nearby strawberry field. I picked and ate strawberries for what felt like hours, until I fell asleep. By the time my father found me my white dress was stained pink and I later got sick because I ate so much. After that I wasn’t allowed any strawberries for a month.” A smile grew on your face from the fond memory. It had been a good time, before the talk of balls and husbands had started. The little story had lightened the mood, because Ahsoka went on to tell about that one time she had climbed a tree to get the biggest apple and then fallen, resulting in her breaking her leg. Even the Captain jumped in and told you about his first time falling off a horse. You liked to know these little things about your servants, it made them more like people and less like employees. And you really enjoyed how Ahsoka’s voice changed throughout the story, it got louder and quieter, faster and slower, making you really feel what she must have felt in that moment. But the Captain was a whole other story. It wasn’t as much his voice that changed as his face. There was a light in his eyes and the corners of his lips, which you tried not to look at, lifted whenever he talked about his brothers. His chuckles made your insides turn warm and when his eyes landed on you you felt as if you were on fire. Though you didn’t know why he had that effect on you, you knew it was thrilling and comforting and dangerous, but mostly you knew you should ignore all of that, because it went beyond anything you should feel for the Captain of your husband’s guard. Ahsoka was in the middle of telling a story about General Skywalker when low bells interrupted her. “Shit, is it midnight already?”, she exclaimed. Out of the corner of your eye you could see the Captain open his mouth, probably to scold the girl for her language, but before he could say anything you stood up. “I should go. And you should get to bed, Ahsoka”, you said. The girl nodded. She drowned the last of her tea, which must have been cold by now, and reached for the empty plate. “I’ll clean this up and then I’ll go”, she told you. For a moment she halted in her movement and looked at you. “It was very nice meeting you, your Grace.” There it was, the reminder that you had not just made friends, but were talking to your servants. No matter how good you thought you got along, you would never know whether they enjoyed your company or were just pretending in order to keep their jobs. And in that moment you wanted nothing more than to tell Ahsoka, tell the Captain, to call you (Y/N) and to let them know how much you had enjoyed the evening with them, but you knew you never could. “Let me walk you back to your room, my lady”, the Captain said. You just nodded, suddenly more tired then you were moments before. “Good night, Ahsoka”, you said with a smile you hoped was kind rather than sad. The two of you walked in silence. Though the way back was shorter, since you didn’t make any detours or got lost, it seemed to last an eternity. Finally you reached the top of the stairs and turned down a familiar hallway. “I had a good time tonight”, you said as you were nearing your door. It wasn’t until you actually stopped in front of said door that the Captain answered. “Me too.” He paused to look at you. You felt his eyes wander from your disheveled hair to your eyes, your nose, your reddening cheeks and finally your lips. A strange tingling in your stomach caught your attention, but you decided to analyse that later. For now you were quiet happy standing in a dark hallway close to a handsome and kind man whose breath you could feel on your face. It smelled of the strawberries you had offered him earlier. “You know it can never happen again, don’t you?” You closed your eyes at his words. Though there was a new familiarity in the tone, and he hasn’t even used your title, they felt colder than anything he had said that night. Like a goodbye. “I know it’s... I know it’s not exactly proper... But it’s not really improper either, is it? It’s not like we were alone, we had Ahsoka with us.” As soon as the words left your mouth you realized that in that moment you were alone. Alone in a dark hallway and closer than you should be to any man who is not your husband. You could feel the Captain taking a slow, deep breath. His hand brushed yours, whether accidentally or on purpose you couldn’t tell, and his eyes fluttered close for a moment. The tingling intensified and you braced yourself for what was to come, though you weren’t sure what exactly that was. But then he took a step back. “Please don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” There was a new emotion in his eyes, one you couldn’t read but were convinced you never wanted to see again. “I’m sorry, I... I suppose... I guess I still need to adjust to all of this.” You lifted your hands and pointed down the corridor. “And you...” You decided it was probably better to end your sentence there, you didn’t even know what you wanted to say, so instead you reached out your hand to open the door. You stepped inside your sitting room, still facing the man in front of you. “Goodnight, Captain”, you said with a smile. He mirrored your smile, though it looked somehow sad on his face. When he didn’t say anything for a few seconds you started closing the door and it wasn’t until it was almost shut all the way that you heard him softly saying “Goodnight, (Y/N).” With a sigh you leaned against the now closed door. “Goodnight, Rex”, you whispered into the cold, dark, empty room.

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Next Part

The idea for a Rex Regency Au just popped into my head and I had so much fun writing this. More parts will definitely follow, I already have a rough idea of how I want everything to work out. Though I’m currently writing another Rex fanfiction and a second part for my Poe Dameron fanfiction as well, so I’m not sure how fast I’ll be...

#captain rex x you #captain rex x y/n #captain rex x reader #captain rex imagine #rex x reader #rex x you #rex x y/n #rex imagine #star wars self insert #star wars imagine #clone wars imagine #clone wars self insert #star wars the clone wars #clone wars au #captain rex au #rex au #regency au

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chaolie · 3 years ago

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Fundywastaken week, Day 8 - Free Prompt

Here it is!! The last thing I wrote for @fundyfiles' fwt week!! I kinda got carried away writing it and it got somewhat long, but it's really cool I think! Can be also found on my Ao3 with the rest of my works for this week!

Characters: Fundy, Dream, Wilbur

Words: ~3.7k

When they parted ways the day before, Fundy promised he’d see Dream again first thing in the morning. At first, the man assumed that his boyfriend slept in. Then, he convinced himself something else must’ve come up and he’d be late. But now the sun was high in the sky, and it was well past noon. Finally, Dream started to seriously worry. What if something happened? Sure, the war was long over and there weren’t many dangers around, but still, what if? To feel better, he decided to go check on him.

He arrived at the gate to L’Manburg rather quickly, but was a bit hesitant to knock. Sure, he was on better terms with some of the people living there, but he usually was around them only with Fundy, there was no telling how they’d react to seeing him alone. With the worry for his boyfriend overpowering his nervousness, he knocked on the gate a couple of times and waited. He saw someone peek above the wall before ducking behind it again and heard their footsteps get further. Great. But just moments later, the gate slowly opened and he stood face to face with Wilbur.

“Hello. What brings you here?” the man asked. Dream took a deep breath before speaking.

“Is… Fundy here? I hadn’t seen him all day and I’m starting to get worried,” he answered. To his surprise, Wilbur’s expression seemed to soften slightly.

“...He is, but I’m not sure if he’d like to see you,” he answered. Confused, Dream tilted his head.

“Huh? Why?” he asked, and the man sighed.

“He’s just… He’s in his room, and he doesn’t want visitors. It’s just… I suppose he didn’t tell you?”

“...Didn’t tell me about what?” Dream asked, and Wilbur nodded. “Look, I just want to see him and make sure he’s okay.”

“I see,” the man sighed. “I can let you in, but if he tells you to leave, you’ll do so,” he said, and Dream nodded. The last thing he wanted to do was argue.

“Of course.”

“Good… Come inside, then, I suppose,” Wilbur sighed, stepping back to let Dream go through the gate.

Walking behind Wilbur, Dream couldn’t help but grow anxious. What did the man mean, what did Fundy not tell him about? Was it something very bad? He knew Fundy well, well enough to know that no minor inconvenience would stop him from keeping his promise and meeting with him. So what happened? How bad was it? Was he sick? Was he hurt? No, Wilbur was acting far too calm for that, and he probably wouldn’t let Dream anywhere near him if that were the case… So what was it, then?!

“...Fundy?” Wilbur called out, knocking on the door to the small house Fundy called his own.

“...Yeah?” came the answer. He sounded… okay. A bit sad, but okay. That in itself was a big relief for Dream.

“You, uh. Dream came to visit you?” Fundy’s father announced. After that, came a long pause. “You don’t have to-”

“It’s fine, it’s fine!” Fundy answered finally, his voice more muffled. “H-he can come in!” he assured.

“...Okay then,” Wilbur sighed before turning to look at Dream. He glared at the masked man for a second, as if telling him Don’t Do Anything Bad, and then left. Nervously, Dream put a hand over the doorknob and pushed the door open.

“Hi. Fundy?” he greeted, stepping inside.

“Hi. Close the door, please?” Fundy answered, and Dream followed the instruction. When he looked back into the building, he found his boyfriend on his bed, hiding under a blanket.

“...Are you okay?” he asked, and the shape under the blanket moved in a way indicating a nod.

“Yeah! Yeah, just-” Fundy tried to explain, but his voice suddenly fell. “Sometimes I just wake up, and… I don’t want anyone to see me?” he answered hesitantly.

“Is there… a reason?” Dream asked, slowly stepping closer to the bed. Again, Fundy nodded.

“Yeah, it’s… uh… It’s just… I really don’t want anyone to see me like… this. A-and that includes you, too. Uh, sorry, it’s dumb-” he stuttered out.

“It’s alright,” Dream assured. “I just wanted to check on you.”

“Oh, right- Sorry for missing our meeting, I’m just… Tomorrow, maybe? If I’m lucky?” Fundy suggested. Dream felt helpless, whatever his boyfriend was dealing with, he wanted to help. But how could he help if he didn’t know anything? He figured, maybe giving him some support would be good enough?

“Sure,” he nodded, carefully putting a hand on where he assumed Fundy’s arm to be. Immediately, the fox hybrid’s hand shot out from under the blanket and grasped at the material.

“Wait, don’t-” he gasped, holding it tightly.

“Oh, no, I wasn’t-” Dream shook his head and took his hand back. “Sorry, I was just…” he tried to excuse himself.

Just then, he looked at Fundy’s hand and… huh? It looked… very different from what he remembered it to be. It was… slightly bigger, the ‘claws’ on it were much duller, and most importantly… Well, it wasn’t fox-like anymore. Not at all, save for the black tint on the tips of his fingers, Fundy’s hand was… human. Surprised, Dream carefully reached over and put his own hand over it.

“...Fundy, what…” he tried to ask, but the moment he came in contact with the hand, his boyfriend yelped in surprise and hid it back under the blanket.

“I- It’s not what- Wait I- I can explain!” he stuttered, and Dream stood still in his place. Then, there came a pause.

“...So, can you explain your… hand?” Dream asked finally, and Fundy seemed to curl up under the blanket.

“...Are you… I don’t know, upset?”

“No!” Dream assured quickly. “No, of course not! Just… confused?”

“Oh. A-alright,” Fundy nodded, and let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, so…”

Fundy’s almost-human hand reappeared on the edge of the blanket, and he carefully pulled it back. Slowly, he revealed himself and he looked… different for sure. Not like the fox hybrid Dream got to see almost every day, but almost human. A ginger-haired human with just a few fox-like features, ears, tail, and the tips of his fingers. Carefully, he sat up on his bed and watched his boyfriend, waiting for his reaction. When the man stayed silent, he figured he should continue his explanation.

“...So… this happens. Sometimes. N-not too often, but I’ll sometimes wake up and it’s just… like this?” he stuttered out, and Dream managed to push himself to answer.

“I see. That's... interesting. N-not in a bad way! And what do you do when… this happens?” he asked, and Fundy shrugged. He did seem at least a bit comforted by the fact that Dream wasn't going crazy over his current look, though.

“Wait for it to go back to normal?” he answered. “It happens on its own most of the time. B-but not everyone is used to seeing… this me? So I usually just stay home and… hide. And if I’m honest, I don’t feel very comfortable like this either,” he admitted. Then, he looked at Dream again, and the man finally fully broke through his shock.

“I don’t mind seeing you like this,” he said, slowly taking a seat by his boyfriend’s side. “It’s still you, isn't it?” he pointed out. While he wasn't used to reading Fundy's expressions while he had a more human face, the relief on it was obvious this time.

“...Oh, you have No Idea how glad I am to hear this,” he let out a sigh of relief as Dream put his hand on his shoulder.

“So wait, are you like… a shapeshifter?” he asked after a moment of thought, and Fundy nodded.

“Yeah, basically! Well, I can look only like this, like I usually do, or like an actual wild fox, but it still counts, right?” he confirmed, and Dream nodded.

“That’s cool,” he hummed, and Fundy chuckled.

“Not when you can’t change back,” he sighed, his fox ears dropping slightly. “I just never learned,” he admitted, and Dream nodded again.

“Hm… Would you like to?” he asked, and Fundy looked up at him with a confused frown.

“...What do you mean?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a few books about shapeshifting in a friend’s possession? Maybe there are some instructions there?” he suggested, and Fundy’s face lit up.

“Oh, yeah, I heard that’s a thing. I never got my hands on them, but... “ he paused in thought. “I think it’s worth a try?” he decided finally, and Dream nodded.

“I can go grab them fast, then. Do you want to come with me?” he offered, and Fundy hesitated.

“Uh… I don’t know, I mean…” he muttered, looking down at himself. Dream nodded. “...Unless…” Fundy remembered suddenly, “Is there anything I can cover myself with?” he wondered out loud, and Dream looked around.

“I don’t know…” he hummed, failing to spot anything that could help. Then, Fundy gasped.

“Wait, I think I still have some invisibility potions lying around!” he realized, and immediately grew more hopeful.

“Oh, that’s perfect,” Dream agreed, getting off the bed and looking around. Soon enough, Fundy got to his feet as well and… oh? “...Is it just me, or are you taller now?” the masked man muttered.

“Am I?” Fundy asked, looking down at himself before grinning. “I suppose that’s a plus of being more… human?” he concluded before making his way over to a small chest and reaching inside, pulling out a bottle with a blue-ish liquid inside. “Here it is!”

“Great,” Dream nodded. “So, are you ready to go?”

“Yeah!” Fundy confirmed before downing the bottle and disappearing in front of his boyfriend’s eyes. “Let’s go!”

“Right,” Dream nodded, searching around for Fundy’s hand for a moment before finally finding it and leading him towards the door. “Can we go tell your father we’re leaving first? I don’t want him to assume I kidnapped you or something.”

“Oh, sure. I don’t want to worry him either,” the fox hybrid shapeshifter agreed.

With just a few minutes of invisibility to spare, the two quickly managed to find Wilbur and briefly told him that they were leaving. They didn’t tell him the exact reason, they had no idea if it would work anyway, so Fundy just came up with a ‘short walk’ he wanted to take as an excuse. His father was very obviously surprised to see, or rather hear, him outside of his room, but didn’t say anything against their idea. Once that was handled, the two freely left the walls of L’Manburg and started heading towards the place Dream last recalled seeing the books, a friends’ library. They used the big forest separating the two places as a cover for when Fundy’s potion ran out, which luckily happened far enough from L’Manburg.

“Hm… I think I’m really taller,” Fundy admitted moments after collecting himself from a branch smacking him in the face. The branch that barely scratched the top of his head if he straightened his back before.

“You sure are,” Dream admitted, he figured that much was obvious from the very moment his boyfriend stood up.

“...How far is the place we’re going to, again?” Fundy asked after a short pause.

“Not too far from here, maybe just 3 or 4 minutes of walking,” the masked man assured, and his boyfriend nodded.

“Alright then.”

Just as Dream predicted, it didn’t take them too long to reach the library. It was far from any other buildings, so they weren’t being too risky in assuming they wouldn’t be spotted, but the masked man still went inside first. While he was checking the building for any other people, Fundy patiently waited outside and found himself thinking… it’s been ages since he last dared to go outside shaped not like a fox hybrid. And for the first time in forever, he didn’t feel bad doing so either. Dream’s presence really helped him, he supposed.

“It’s empty!” the man called out, his head peeking through the door. Fundy nodded at that and approached.

“That’s good,” he laughed quietly while the man pushed the door further to let him inside. As soon as he entered, he was hit by the all-familiar scent of old books.

“Right. And I’m pretty sure I saw at least one of the books we’re looking for over there?” Dream explained, already walking off in a direction.

“Wait, uh, Dream?” Fundy called after him before he could wander too far.

“Yeah?” the man asked, stopping and turning to look at Fundy.

“I just, uh… wanted to say,” he paused briefly. “Thanks for not making this the biggest deal of the century, or anything. And for wanting to help,” he finished, and the man stepped back to be at his side again.

“Of course. I’m always here, whatever you need,” he assured, carefully taking Fundy’s ‘new’ hands into his. “I promise I am. I love you,” he added, and for the first time ever, he got to see Fundy’s face turn bright red.

“Thank you. I love you too,” the shapeshifter nodded, unable to stop a smile from appearing on his face.

“Now let’s find those books, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“...But for the record, I can most definitely see you blushing,” Dream teased, and sure enough, Fundy’s cheeks grew even redder at that.

“Uh- I- A-at least I’m taller?” he stuttered out, and the masked man chuckled. “We’ll see who’s laughing when I can reach the higher shelves,” he muttered despite there wasn’t too much of a difference between them. It still counted, right?

Over an hour later, they still had nothing. They sat at a table with a couple of piles of books scattered all around them, some checked and some still to be checked. Of course, almost all of them were about shapeshifting, but very few had any instructions inside of them, and not even one was about changing from almost-human to an animal hybrid. So they still sat and flipped through the countless pages, searching for the right one.

“Hm…” Dream hummed quietly, reading one of the books more cautiously.

“Did you find anything?” Fundy asked, a glint of hope in his voice.

“...No, not really. This has some instructions, but about going from a human to an actual animal. Not really what you need, is it?” he explained, and the shapeshifter nodded.

“Yeah, not that,” he confirmed, but Dream continued to stare into the book.

“This seems really simple, though. Are all the instructions so simple?” he asked, sliding the book over to his boyfriend.

“It’s not simple, it’s hard to remember and easy to forget. Takes a lot of practice. And if you do one thing wrong, it won’t work,” he explained before sliding the book back.

“Oh, come on, it really looks so easy!” Dream groaned, picking up the book and holding it up in front of him. “Look, you just… hm… like this… and…” he muttered, and Fundy rolled his eyes at the man’s efforts.

“Dream,” he groaned. “It won’t work if you’re not-” he tried to explain, but was cut off by a sudden yelp, a bright flash, and the book falling to the ground. He stilled for a moment, staring at where his boyfriend was just seconds ago. “...Dream?”

With a small, confused grin, he got to his feet and walked over to the fallen book. He could swear something was moving under it, so he carefully reached for it. He gently pushed it up and found, well, something under it. Not an animal for sure. Rather, a small creature unlike anything he’s seen before. A tiny, white blob with a smile almost identical to the one painted on Dream’s mask. Which still made very little sense, even if the creature was technically Dream.

“...No, wait, Dream?” Fundy asked again, and the creature chirped quietly as an answer. At that, he couldn’t help but chuckle briefly. Still, when Dream seemed to glare at him, he did his best to calm down before reaching his hand out. “A-are you okay?” he asked, finally choking down the laughter. The blob nodded swiftly, and it almost brought a grin to his face. But no, he should focus... “Okay, good. So… what did you even change into?” he asked.

He didn’t expect Dream to answer, but seeing his boyfriend try to look himself over quickly just assured him that he wouldn’t get it. He looked at the book in his hand, and read the page it was open on more thoroughly. The first thing he noticed, while it did mention turning from a human to an animal, it later clarified that the correct term would be a “small-sized creature”. The second thing he noticed was the lack of instructions for turning back. A book just as useful as the other ones they have looked through so far.

“Well, look what you got yourself into,” he sighed. Still, seeing Dream like that was… a bit reassuring at least. Made him feel less alone. “Alright, we’re looking for two books now, right?” he asked, and when the blob chirped again, he carefully reached for him and picked him up. “Let’s get to work then.”

Fundy was the only one to work now. Not that Dream didn’t try anymore, of course. If anything, he was much more in a rush to find a book that could help at least one of them, but given his… current form and the strength that came with it, he wasn’t doing as good as he was before. So after a short while of struggling to open at least one of the books, he ended up agreeing to rest, and was now comfortably curled up in the collar of Fundy’s jacket and resting against his neck. At first, he served as a second pair of eyes, chirping loudly whenever he saw something looking remotely close to a guide on how to change shapes, but eventually settled down and stopped doing that. He trusted Fundy’s eyes, and his own felt so heavy he just had to close them.

“...Wait… Dream!” Fundy gasped another hour into the search, startling his boyfriend and almost making him fall down. With a quiet chuckle, he reached up and placed him back on the table. “Sorry, sorry… but look!”

And the tiny blob creature once known as Dream looked at the book next to him. A book with “Different shapes and how to achieve them” printed on its cover, and a small chart drawn under the words. Oh, now this looked really promising…. Fundy turned the first few pages, and paused. It was filled with different instructions for going from one shape to another.

“Yes!” Fundy beamed, and while Dream could only chirp in response, he made up for that with enthusiasm. “Hm, let me just…” he flipped a few more pages, stopping at one that seemed to represent exactly what he was searching for. “...Alright, it’s worth a try, right?”

It surely was, because just seconds later, he was finally back! He was the himself he knew, the himself he felt comfortable with. And oh, what a relief that was. Still, knowing what it was like to be stuck in a different form all-too-well, he wasted no time before flipping some more pages, searching for something Dream could find helpful. Again, it just took a moment to find.

“Here, try this. It should work,” he announced, holding the book up to make sure the tiny blob creature could see it clearly. Dream nodded, stared at the page intensely, chirped quietly, and… with another quick flash of light, he was now a man sitting on a table.

“Oh, thank God!” he exclaimed the moment he looked down at himself. And now, with everything finally under control, Fundy allowed himself to laugh.

“We did it!” he cheered, holding up the book. “Oh, where was this all my life?” he asked before carefully putting it down. Dream seemed to collect himself rather quickly, and soon enough he was off the table already.

“I think you should keep it,” he commented, still occasionally looking down at himself to make sure everything was okay. “I’m sure my friend won’t mind. And we can always make a copy,” he explained.

“...Yeah, let’s do that,” Fundy agreed. “I should probably head home soon, though,” he pointed out.

“Oh yeah, we don’t want your father getting upset too,” Dream nodded in agreement. “Let’s go now, and I can come back to make copies of this book later.”

“Sounds good,” Fundy hummed, starting to walk to the door. Dream took a couple of bigger steps to stay at his side.

“Also, Fundy,” he started, getting the fox hybrid’s attention. “We do not speak of what happened here,” he said, but his tone was nowhere near threatening. Rather, embarrassed. Fundy nodded, but the grin on his face stayed in its place.

“Sure, sure… But for the record, you look cute as a tiny white blob… creature?” he answered, finally getting his revenge for Dream making him blush a few hours before.

“Uh, I did not?” the man insisted, but with the face he knew he was making, he couldn’t be more grateful for his mask.

“Mhm, sure, yeah,” Fundy nodded, and Dream couldn’t find anything he could say to retaliate. Eventually, he managed to calm himself enough to steer the conversation to a more serious one again.

“Uh, by the way, I just want to mention… if you ever feel like being a full human or a fox or anything around me, go ahead. I don’t mind,” he assured, and hearing that made Fundy feel a bit better about his ability.

“...Thanks. Same goes for you. I won’t mind having a pocket-sized boyfriend,” he joked, but his answer was just as genuine. Dream nodded.

“Thanks.”

They’d go over the fact that they were somehow both shapeshifters and that Dream somehow didn’t know anything about being one so far some other day. Some other, much longer day. A day they could spend talking just about that. Because boy, would that be a long conversation. At least it could be a fun one, though?

#fwtweek2021 #fundywastaken #fundy #dream #c!fundy #c!dream #wilbur #c!wilbur #fwt #mcyt #dream smp #my writing #Sorry if something went wrong but I had to post from mobile :sob:

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kurlyfrasier · 4 years ago

Text

Terrified: Part 8

Raph x Reader

Synopsis: Raph saves you from ruffians one night in an alley after watching out for you for weeks without you knowing. Which leads you to getting to know the guys and becoming part of the family. But Raph keeps a distance and you don’t understand why.

Word Count: 1763

Warnings: None, I don’t think...it’s definitely starting to look up though (:

A/N: This goes back and forth between raph and reader pov just fyi

Three excruciating days after the transplant, Leo finally let me free. I had re-read most of my books, listened to all of my music on repeat more than I’d like to admit, and stared at the ceiling for countless hours. I was surprisingly relieved when he told me that he had to break our promise. At least I now knew Raph didn’t over-stress himself over the information. Plus, it was nice knowing there wasn’t much for him to break if he lost his temper during quarantine. I figured Mikey could hold his own against his weakened brother if it did come to blows. Thankfully, it did not. I heard he also took it rather well. Which simultaneously made me happy that he kept his cool and had me doubting what little effect I may have once had over him.

I could only hope he still cared about my welfare to get him to stay in the lair indefinitely.

Still, it was nice to leave my room. The first place I went was Raph’s room. Where I found there was no bed because they had carried him on his bed into the quarantine room. So he would be more comfortable when he woke. I hoped he appreciated his brothers’ thoughtfulness. I then peeked into the lab to find both Raph and Mikey snoring, disappointing me slightly. I would’ve liked to see how well he was doing for myself. With a sigh, I made my way toward the living room and plopped myself onto the giant bean bag and turned on the tv to enjoy my newfound freedom. A few minutes later, spaghetti was resting on my lap as if I had conjured it. I looked up to find Leo sitting on the couch, making it known that he wasn’t leaving until I had eaten at least a few bites.

He was really throwing off my groove with this whole ‘forcing me to eat thing’. How was I supposed to convince Raph to stay in the lair if I didn’t look sick? Plus, it was hard to eat anymore. Those weeks I went barely eating were affecting me more than I wanted to admit. But if it kept Raph safe, it was worth it.

A few bites in I expected him to leave. Instead, he flicked his gaze between my plate and eyes, raising a brow in challenge. I huffed, but continued eating. Spaghetti was my favorite, after all, so I figured a few extra bites wouldn’t hurt. Eventually he was satisfied and left the room for the dojo.

I waited on bated breath until I heard the swishing of his katanas before sneaking off for the restroom. I needed to empty my stomach, and fast. Unfortunately, I bumped into Donnie on my way, who dragged me back to the living room area. His excuse was that he wanted to watch a movie with me.

This pattern continued for the following few days. To my utter frustration.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Today was the day. The day Raph and Mikey were finally going to get out of quarantine. The day he was going to get to see you, and he couldn’t wait. He was more anxious than the first night they went topside and that was saying something.

Three days after Leo had spilled his guts about what had been going on with you and Raph felt he was almost at 100 percent. Sure, he still needed a few extra hours of sleep, to get some muscle back, and get his cardio up a bit more, but he finally got the okay from Donnie to get out of this bubble. All Donnie had to do was some last minute blood tests to make sure there was no more poison in his system and that their immune systems were up to crack after the transplant. When he gave the all clear, Raph ripped the plastic down and asked where to find you.

Raph asked everyone not to tell you that he was going to be out of quarantine because he wanted to see you before you saw him. He needed to see how true the stories were. He needed to make sure he could compose himself before you saw him.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he found you sitting alone on the couch, watching tv. A banana laid next to you, untouched, and he wondered if you had eaten yet. You needed to eat. You were so small, waif-like really. The curves he so loved on you had disappeared. Replaced with fragile looking bone. You looked exhausted with dark bags and droopy eyes. Your skin was paler than he had ever seen and your hair looked thin, not that he knew much about that, but it used to have a mind of its own. Now it was flat and lifeless. His heart broke at the sight.

Slowly- quietly- he made his way toward you. You had yet to notice him and he needed all the strength he could muster not to go off on you. Why had you not taken care of yourself- especially when you found out he was alive and well. Why had you not slept better? Ate more?

Raph grabbed the banana from behind the couch and handed it to you.

“Not hungry,” you said with barely a glance.

“Ya look hungry ta me,” he rasped, unable to speak above a whisper looking at you.

Your head snapped up at the sound of his voice with so much velocity your entire body spun around, causing you to slip off the couch, arms flailing. He caught you though, and stood you up on the couch, now at eye-level.

“Raph!” You beamed up at him, wide-eyed, and threw your bird-like arms around his neck. Gently, he reciprocated with a loose hold around your waist, worried he might hurt you as he buried his nose at the crook of your neck. You looked so fragile, and he had always been like a bull in a china shop.

“Why’d you do this?” He didn’t mean to ask- he really didn’t- but he had to know. You stiffened in his hold and tried to back out of the hug, but he held you where you were. He didn’t want you falling off the couch. And he sure as shell did not want to let go. If he worried about your safety before, now he was even more concerned. There was no way he was going to let you out of his sight anytime soon. “Wha’ were you thinkin’ Swee’heart?” His voice was muffled and broken.

“I just- I wasn’t hungry, that’s all,” you shrugged in his hold as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“Y/n,” Raph demanded your attention with a growl, now looking you in the eyes as he held you steady by the waist. “There’s a diffe’ence between not feelin’ hungry and starvin’ yerself!”

“Raph-”

“Don’tcha ‘Raph’ me, Princess,” he let go and stepped around the couch. You followed his every move, sitting back down while he paced between you and the tv. “Leo told me ev’rythin’. And Mikey. They were worried sick! Don’tcha know what ya mean ta them! Huh!”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Raph was fuming as my heart beat wildly in my chest. Two pet names in the span of a couple minutes? It was almost too much to endure along with the fact that he was saying more than three words to me at a time until my heart sunk at the mention of his brothers and asking what I meant to them. Not him. Them. Still, I couldn’t tear my gaze away.

He was awake.

He was moving.

He was alive.

And he was just as strong as ever before.

“They were startin’ ta worry you might hurt yerself, Y/n.”

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, bowing my head in shame. “I wouldn’t do that.” Unless he had died, I thought to myself, remembering that night he came back injured. My first thought at the time was that I couldn’t live without him. My second; that I wouldn’t.

“Good. And I appreciate ya stayin’ next ta me an’ all, but ya shoulda got betta sleep,” he continued ranting, burning a hole in the floor with his pacing. “What if I had hurt ya in my sleep? What if I woke up an’ panicked? Huh? What then?”

“I-”

“I woulda neva been able to forgive myself if somethin’ had happened ta ya. And then I wake up without a peep from ya and learn ya lost ya job, and ya apartment. That ya haven’ slept or ate. Do ya realize how worried I was?”

I couldn’t help but snap my head up at that tidbit of news.

“And look at ya! Ya turned inta skin an’ bones.”

“It’s not like I was that pretty before…” I muttered under my breath, fiddling with my fingers as I remembered all those times I wore something extra pretty to get a reaction out of him to no avail. I had secretly hoped the last time he would suddenly realize what was in front of him, but then-

Raph stopped dead, fists clenched at his sides, chest heaving as he raked his molten emerald gaze over my form. So much like he used to do when checking for injuries. In less than a beat those same eyes turned sharp as the blade that sliced his arm. “What. Did. You. Just. Say,” he growled out, sounding feral, enunciating every word with the same precision he uses with his sais.

“No-nothin’,” I stuttered out, attempting to sink myself into the back of the couch. Wishing I could disappear as he sauntered his way over, forcing me to meet his furious eyes.

“I don’t eva wanna hear that again. Yer gorgeous. The most beautiful thing I had eva seen. Do ya hear me?”

My heart stopped, mouth gaped, and eyes bulged. If he noticed my shock, he ignored it.

“I’m takin’ full responsability,” he said pointedly as I tried to remember how to breathe. “I’m gonna make sure ya get food in ya. That it stays in ya. An’ that ya get the best sleep of yer life, Swee’heart.”

Suddenly- before I could even process that he planned on becoming my caretaker- he was on his knees before me, arms wrapped around my waist as he set his head in my lap. “I wanted ta run ta ya the moment I heard. I wanted ta knock some sense inta ya. But now that I see ya...I’m neva gonna let ya outta my sight.”

Jackpot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 9

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miguel-manbemel · 4 years ago

Text

Roman’s True Form

This story is out of the main narrative. It was inspired by an idea by @/ErinTeaNTravel on Twitter. Hope you enjoy it.

Patton rose up in Virgil’s room, he was really worried.

“Virgil, can I speak to you?” “What is it, Patton? You look really worried. What’s the matter?” “You see, I’m worried about Roman.” “About Roman? What has that prince done this time?” “Oh, no, it’s nothing of that sort, kiddo, it’s just that… he’s locked himself in his room and doesn’t want to let me in.” “Well, perhaps he needs some privacy, like we all do from time to time. I wouldn’t worry too much about him…” Virgil looks at Patton’s face of concern “…although I suspect there’s more in this story you’re not telling me. What has happened?” “Well, he had an argument with Janus in the living room just yesterday, and they both spit bitter and hurtful remarks to each other.” “Yeah, Janus is just like that, he… wait a minute, you know his name? He told you his name?” “Um, yes, kiddo, at the end of our conversation he revealed his name to us.” “Why would he do that?” Virgil said, talking to himself “What is this snake plotting now…?” “Kiddo, we were talking about Roman, remember?” “Oh, yes, sorry, Patton. Still, I wouldn’t worry much. Janus is all hiss but no bite, and Roman is strong to cope with whatever he told him.” “Even if he compared Roman with his twin brother Remus and said that Roman was the evil twin?” Over hearing that, Virgil showed a face of shock followed by intense fury and anger. He was almost trembling out of wrath and had his fists well tight. “That fiend… how could he use something so low to hurt Roman like that? How did Roman take it?” “Well, he seemed to believe that Thomas and I agreed with Janus, because it was really hard for him to fight tears and… then he questioned if Thomas thought of him as his hero anymore. I tried to reassure him… but he just left to his room and I haven’t been able to talk to him ever since, he just ignores my knocking at the door.” “If I were him, I’d be devastated too. If I know Roman, and after all these years, I think I do, nothing would scare him more than thinking he’s similar to his brother Remus. I’ve said a lot of slights to him just like he did to me, but I’d never punch him in the guts like that. Even I know there’s a line... Oh, if I put my hands on you, Janus, you... you poisonous viper” “What can we do, Virgil? There has to be a way to get to him.” “Well, I could try to break in into his room. I’m Thomas’ Anxiety, no one can escape from me in the Mind Palace if I put my mind into it. I can break any door open in the Mind Palace if I want… Oh, don’t look at me like that, Patton, don’t worry. I’m not interested in your secrets and I would never enter your rooms without your permission, unless there’s an emergency. And this looks like an emergency to me. If you agree, we could check on Roman right now, if you’re ready.” “Would you do that, Virge? I’m so worried about him.” “Then it’s settled. First, I’ll call Logan, I have the suspicion we’ll need him in this situation.” Virgil rises his hand and Logan rises up. “Why do you always have to rise me up like this, always when I’m busy. I was reading the latest edition of the Trivia book…” “You can do that later, Teach, this is an emergency. Something’s wrong with Roman and we’re all going to his room to check on him.” “What do you mean wrong, Virgil?” “We’ll explain on the way. Now, let’s go.” Virgil, Logan and Patton sank down, then rose up at Roman’s door. Virgil knocked at the door. “Roman? It’s me, Virgil, are you there?” “Leave me alone, emo. I just want to be alone!” Roman said at the other Side of the door. His voice sounded sad and stuttering, as if he was crying. “Please, kiddo, open the door, let us in, we just want to talk to you and make sure you’re okay!” “Oh, you’re there too. Begone, Patton. I don’t want to talk to anyone, especially to Janus and you, not after how you… betrayed me.” “Wha…?” Patton started saying, but Logan interrupted him. “Why do you think Patton betrayed you, Roman? Explain, please.” “Oh, great, you’re all there, aren’t you?” Roman’s voice sounded annoyed between the tears “Why don’t you ask the happy papi puffball what happened?” “He told us already, Roman, but we need to hear your version of the story before getting to any fair judgment. So please, open the door.” “I said no! Leave me alone, all of you!” “Well, enough is enough. We’re not gonna leave you like that when it’s clear you’re dying of pain. You guys helped me when I needed you and now that you need us, even if you don’t see it clearly, you’re gonna get our help, by hook or by crook!” “Don’t you dare, Virgil!” “Yes I dare, Roman!” Virgil kicked the door and broke it open. Then the three of them entered Roman’s room. Roman was there on the bed. But they only recognized him by his face (something Sides could do, even when they all had the same face) because the rest of his appearance didn’t look like him at all. He was wearing a dirty white sweatshirt with red shorts and flip flops. All his hair was disheveled and his makeup was all ruined because of the tears he had been shedding for hours. “How dare you enter my room!” Roman said, covering his face with both hands “Go away! Go away now! I don’t want you to see me like this!” “Roman, we’re sorry, but we can’t go away now,” Patton said, almost in tears “much less when we’ve seen you like this.” “Like what, like this outfit? You don’t like it Patton? What am I saying… You don’t care. No ones cares about my appearance, so why should I care about it? I thought…” Roman sobbed before continuing “… I thought I was your best friend… I thought we would always be sidekicks. I always followed your lead and… you abandoned me…” Roman sobbed again “You abandoned me for that slimy snake!” “That’s not true! I would never abandon you and I’m still your best friend! How can you even doubt it?” “Well, when you had to choose a side, no pun intended, it was clear who you chose first, and it wasn’t me. I… I only wanted you to be proud of me… that’s why I followed all your directions about what was good or bad… but now you suddenly changed course and… you left me lost in the dark… I don’t know my way anymore.” “This sounds familiar… it’s almost the same words Thomas said when I told him that I don’t know the way… Last time I made the mistake of making promises I couldn’t keep, and I’m not making the same mistake again. Listen, Roman, I’m already proud of you, and being Janus’ friend doesn’t mean I can’t be your friend too. And… I know you want to follow me, and want me to guide you out of the dark, but, kiddo… I don’t know the way. I’m as lost in the dark as you are.” “Don’t be silly, Patton. You’re Thomas’ morality. You’re supposed to know right and wrong.” “I… I thought I knew. But I was mistaken, and my mistakes almost led Thomas into a breakdown, remember? How can I be any good to guide anyone, when I don’t know which way to go? I… I’m sorry if I made you think that I had abandoned you, it was never my intention, I would never leave your side as long as you needed me. After all these years of friendship, I think you should know.” Roman looked at Patton. Tears were still running down his cheeks. “If we face this together, perhaps we could get out of the dark all together, like the friends we are. Please, Roman, don’t shut us out of your life. You’re important to us. You’re important to me. We all love you. I told you before and I meant it. We. Love. You. Roman. How wouldn’t we… when for all of us… you are our hero. You have always been and forever will be.” Roman showed an emotional smile and he hugged Patton. As he did so, a shining white light surrounded them, a light so bright that made Virgil close his eyes and Logan look away. After a few moments, the light disappeared. Roman and Patton were still there, hugging each other. But Roman was so different. He looked so handsome that Virgil’s and even Logan’s mouths went ajar. He was wearing a white suit with a red vest, white gloves and a shining golden crown on his head with a huge diamond on top of it and a red ruby, an orange garnet, a yellow citrine, a green emerald, a light blue topaz, an indigo tanzanite and a purple amethyst set all around it. After Roman released Patton and Patton saw the change, he went as ajar as the others. “What is this miracle?” Patton said “You look… majestic.” Roman looked at himself and noticed the change. “Oh… I was thinking I had something heavy on my head…” Roman said smiling, still emotional. “It seems you now know my true form… It’s been so long since the last time I sported it… I think I hadn’t worn this outfit since the split… My insecurities wouldn’t let me… because I didn’t think myself worthy of this appearance… but now that you told me all these words of reassurance, Patton…” Roman shed a tear. “Are you crying again, Roman?” Patton said, concerned. “Oh, don’t worry, padre. It’s happy tears. I’m so happy to have you in my life, and so relieved to know you didn’t abandon me… I love you so much, Patton. You will always be my dearest friend in this Mind Palace.” “I love you too, kiddo.” Roman looked at the others and chuckled. “Close your mouths, please, guys, we are not codfishes.” Virgil smiled. “Again quoting Mary Poppins, aren’t we?” “Of course, you know that July Andrews…” “…is a beautiful goddess, yes I remember, Roman.” “Thank you guys. If it wasn’t for you insisting on entering…” “We’re just glad that we could help. And if you want help into kicking that snake’s butt, I’m willing to help too.” “Now that you mention it… I think I was a bit rude with Janus. True that his answer was disproportionate, but I shouldn’t have made fun of his name in the first place. I’ll talk to him later, if he lets me.” “Oh, it won’t be necessary” Logan said, with a suddenly smooth voice. Roman showed himself surprised, but then he chortled after noticing something on Logan’s shirt.

“I was so upset I didn’t notice it. Your logo is on the wrong Side of the shirt. You’ll never learn to make a perfect impersonation of us… will you Janus?” Logan smirked and shaped back into his snake-boy form. “Let it be known that I’m not sorry about anything I said to you.” Janus said. “I meant all these words and you deserved them, each and everyone of them.” “Janus, you can’t fool me. Out of all the things you said, everything are lies… except one thing but you said it thinking it was a lie, when it was true. I did deserve these words, each and everyone of them. I treated you very bad when you were opening to us and I’m sorry.” Roman offered his hand “Could you accept this apology and maybe give me a chance to start over again? Perhaps we could even be friends if you want to.” Janus smirked, trying to act cool, but a tear on his human eye exposed his true feelings. He just kept on smirking and shook Roman’s hand. “I tried to summon Logan” Virgil said coldly “why did you come instead and where is Logan?” “Oh, Logan is fine, Virgil. He’s just doing some clever stuff of his in his room, so I came in his place. We didn’t need to bother him, did we?” “Well, you may have made things up with Roman, and I’m happy for him and his well-being. But you still have a lot to respond to before me. I haven’t forgotten what you did to me, and you’ll need a lot more than a hug to fix that.” Virgil then spoke to the others “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to ruin this mood, but Janus and I have a long story, and it’s not a good one. You are my friends and I won’t mind if you think of him as a friend of yours. But I’m not ready yet to forgive him. I hope you understand. I’m happy to see you’re okay again Roman, I really am. Bye, guys.” Virgil sank down. Janus looked at the empty space, again trying to act cool, but again his human eye betrayed him and showed how upset and sad he was about it. “What did you do to him, Janus?” Roman said. “It’s a long story, Roman, and to be honest for once in my life, I’d rather keep it to myself for the time being.” “As you wish kiddo.” Patton said. “But don’t worry. We are all Sides of Thomas. We are bound to love and understand each other sooner or later, in order to keep Thomas safe and sound. I’m sure you’ll fix your relationship with Virgil someday, you’ll see.” “I don’t care about that. If Virgil doesn’t want to have anything to do with me, it’s his loss, not mine.” Janus said. Roman and Patton’s condescending smiles immediately let him know he didn’t fool them. “Well, guys,” Janus said, nervously “we have wasted enough time already, haven’t we? We have a human to take care of so I propose we start working now.” “You’re right, but first…” Patton said “…a group hug to lift our spirits up.” “Yes, group hug!” Roman said hugging Patton. Then they both looked at Janus. “What? No, I’m not as sappy as you are.” “Yes you are, kiddo, come on…” “We promise not to tell Thomas” Roman said, smirking. “Well, in that case… I suppose I could join you… just because I’m getting cold and I need some body warmth or I’ll catch the flu. Being a cold-blooded snake has its disadvantages, you know...” “Of course, kiddo, of course.” Janus joined the group hug. He tried hard to hide it, but he couldn’t help showing a warm smile when the others wrapped him in their arms.

#thomas sanders #sanders sides #roman sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #janus sanders #sanders sides fanfiction #sanders sides fanfic #sanders sides fic #fanfiction #fanfic #fic

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anony-mouse-writer · 4 years ago

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Statement of Saan Hurst regarding a librarian. Statement taken direct from subject, 9th October, 2019.

I always loved the stillness of libraries when I was a kid. There was always a kind of perfect silence that just settled me even when I was anxious or upset. Like a little bubble of perfect calm in the unrelenting storm of life.

Nowadays, libraries aren’t really that quiet though- there always seems to be something happening. A study group or someone on the phone or a kid running around unchecked. I’m not exactly a letter of the law kind of person, but it’s frustrating to go someplace for peace and then be constantly interrupted. If I wanted to hear someone yelling about how to fix their granny’s computer, I’d just get my work done at the cafe next to my building.

So when I got a new job at the downtown agency and had to change my route to work, I was hesitant to choose the library I found tucked off the street as my new place to relax. I mean, I guess I could have kept going to the little bookshop I had been, but it was several stops out of my way now, and even if it was a bit loud, I still had a somewhat nostalgic attachment to libraries and the peace I’d found there so often as a child.

It’s a nice place. Small, just shy of being cramped, actually, but the kind of cramped that comes from shoving bookshelves into every available meter of space. There’s three chairs, one in the front by the window and two in the back between shelves. There’s a lot of strange books there, nothing too odd, but certainly not the endless line of repeating covers of whatever the latest hot novel is like other places. Books I hadn’t read before. It was still loud sometimes, but I loved it.

I’d go there after work for an hour or two and just tuck myself away in one of the chairs in the back. I’d have my headphones on to block out sound, but I prefer listening to whales songs or white noise than any real music. It doesn’t distract from the reading that way. Pretty soon, I was a regular and the two librarians who were on staff alternating days- Misha and Clark- were setting aside books they thought I might like for me to check out when I finished with what I was reading.

Of course, I wouldn’t come here just to tell you about a nice library I found.

It started sometime around August. Clark came down with Mono and the library hired on a temp to cover for his days. I guess, in retrospect, it seems kind of odd since the place hadn’t even bothered to fix the flick-y light in the bathroom for the last two months, but Misha was just grateful for the help and it just didn’t seem that important a detail. Maybe they’d gotten lucky or maybe Clark had made a recommendation while he was out or something.

Nobody looked too hard at it when the new temp started, is what I’m saying.

Misha said their name was Rei. They were pretty nice, a bit distant, but organized. They didn’t set aside any books like the others did and seemed a bit more interested in reading whatever it was that was in the leather-bound books they brought than helping people who came in.

Sometimes people would come in and peer around the building for a minute before asking me if I’d seen the librarian and when I’d point them out, the person would always start a bit as if they hadn’t notice there was someone behind the desk that was in plain view of the front door. I think I’d have judged them a bit more, except I could kind of see where folk were having troubles.

It’s hard to describe, but it was like trying to look at one of those optical illusions but in reverse. If you glance out of the corner of your eyes, they move, but the minute you try to look at it head on, its back to being a still image. If you weren’t exactly sure where Rei was and what you were looking for, they just didn’t seem to register, but the minute you knew they were there, you felt like a fool for having missed them. It creeped a lot of the newcomers out, but I thought it was a neat trick. Rei didn’t seem to like talking much though, so I never bothered to ask how they did it.

Around the second week of Rei’s employment there, I noticed that there seemed to be less traffic in the library than usual. I figured it was maybe the AC kicking on, making it just a bit too cold, but nothing that couldn’t be handled with an extra layer. Honestly, I don’t think I would even have noticed except there was a kid who came in every Tuesday and Thursday to mess around in the horror section before her mum came to collect her and horror was right in front of my favorite chair.

Misha seemed a bit worried, but honestly it was a relief. I came to the library to escape and with less people around, it was that much easier to drown out the world with a bit of sound and a book.

I probably would have been content with that, except in the week after I noticed the growing absence that seemed to settle into the space, more things began to happen.

Misha started looking tired for one. I was worried maybe Rei wasn’t pulling their weight, but she told me that it was personal, not professional. She just felt tired all the time and hadn’t had the energy to enjoy a night off in a few days. I was worried it might be a bug and told her to take a day off, but when she came back, I swear she looked worse. She said she couldn’t- wouldn’t- stay home unless she absolutely had to. Said her flat was too empty.

Then there was the temperature. At first, I thought it was the AC being funky, but I realized that it was worse when Rei was on shift. I asked them about maybe turning it down a notch, but they said the library didn’t have a functioning AC.

That was the first time I’d seen their eyes. They were… cloudy. Not like blind or cataracts cloudy, but literally cloudy. Like when there’s a storm front coming in and the whole sky seems to be moving as it blows in. No irises, no pupil, just endless, gray vapor and nothing.

I yelped and backed away. I’ve seen my share of weird contacts, but this wasn’t artificial. I felt it in my bones that if I looked at their eyes for much longer, I wouldn’t be able to look away.

I swear they smiled at me when I excused myself and left early.

Things got… worse after that.

The chill that seemed to have settled in the library began to follow me around. I’ve never been particularly susceptible to the cold, but suddenly, I couldn’t go out without a full coat, gloves, and scarf.

Not that I had much reason to go out anymore. Work was getting less and less traffic and there was some kind of bug going around so we were at minimal staff. Cindy, Tomas, and Aayan - my coworkers - all got it, so there hasn’t been any reasons to go down to the pub lately either and it feels… worse when I go alone. I’m not looking to be a sad alcoholic in the corner of the bar at closing.

I tried to go to the library on the days when I knew Misha was there, but she seemed more distant every time I saw her and about a week after I’d looked Rei in the eyes, she told me in a dead voice that she’d broken it off with her partner. Said she just didn’t feel the spark anymore. She didn’t even seem that bothered, and she’d loved Sam more than life.

I should have tried talking to her more. Tried to figure out what was wrong, but when she looked at me, there was just…. nothing. Like Misha was gone. It was even worse than whatever Rei’s deal was. Looking at her, I could see that she was standing right in front of me, but I’d never felt farther away from another human being than I did in that moment.

I wish I could say I was surprised when Misha vanished three days later, but I wasn’t. I know it sounds crazy, but if you had seen her eyes. I think that whatever distant place Misha had gone to, the rest of her had finally caught up.

So Rei was now full time until the library could find a replacement which meant that not only were the regulars gone, but there wasn’t anyone new walking in. The library felt like it was closed more often than not with how empty it was.

I was never a really social person. Making friends is difficult for me and I had just rearranged my life, changed jobs, and spent most of my time at the office, the library, or at home. I’ll socialize with the people in my space just fine and once I make friends, we’ll talk, but it’s hard for me to keep up long distance relationships or engage with new strangers because I’m bored. So with all the coworkers I knew out of the office and without Clark or Misha to talk to, it maybe should have been easy to realize I hadn’t talked to anyone outside of work in 2 weeks, but I’m not surprised I didn’t.

The library was always empty when I went and sometimes I’d look at the darkened lights and empty doorway and I’d think they’d closed for good. Even Rei with their disappearing act was barely there. Not that I wanted to see them.

It should have been concerning, and I think on some level it was, but on another, it was… nice. The perfect escape from the rest of the world.

It was just about three months since Rei had come to work when it changed again. I was making my way to the library, trying to avoid the press of people along the sidewalk as usual when suddenly the crowd vanished. I almost tripped as I popped out into the suddenly open air.

When I looked up, there was the library entrance, small and unassuming. But today, instead of the familiar chill, the whole building seemed outright cold. There was only one tiny window, but when I looked, it looked like the window had fogged over, completely white with condensation.

I thought of moving clouds and knowing smiles and I turned right back around and marched through the empty chill until I found myself back in the crowd and went straight home.

I debated coming here for the whole last week. It’s not like anything that happened was even that spooky or weird. Just some creepy eyes, a missing persons case, and some drifting relationships. But… I called the number Clark gave me for emergencies yesterday and it went to disconnect and I haven’t seen any of the regulars who stopped coming in since Rei came. It’s just- I dunno.

I texted some of my uni friends but the messages never even came up as read. My parents are dead, but I tried to call my godfather. We don’t talk much, but I’ll catch up with him anytime I head near his side of the city. He’s always got his phone on him in case of a medical emergency. Nothing. And when I went into work yesterday, two more of my coworkers were out sick. The two who sit closest to me.

It’s like everyone I ever knew is gone and I know it’s connected to the library. To Rei. I don’t care who they are or how they did it. I don’t even care why they did it. I just want them to stop. I want my life back. And I want to stop seeing that empty street and foggy clouds in my dreams.

#avatarsona #fearsona #tma #the magnus archives #the lonely #rei #i rewrote this 3 times because i couldnt figure out how i wanted the library to work #op #mouse's art #mouse's writing

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gayerplease · 4 years ago

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Sublimation

In case anyone's wondering, in psychology, sublimation is a defense mechanism that involves transforming unacceptable impulses into more socially acceptable action or behaviour. It was one of the defense mechanisms mentioned previously. So no, those are not random words I added for no reason. I'm in love with a psychology geek, so I pick up a few things once in a while :)

Funny how I can give define and give examples for all of them but I don't know shit about the book tested in the literature examination tomorrow.

Masterpost

---

"Roman!" I shriek. "For the love of [redacted]! Stop fucking singing!!"

Roman glares, and sings louder, Patton fighting for his disapproval of my language to be heard over the cacophony of noise.

The day honestly didn't start out that badly. There was a huge breakfast laid out for us, firstly. It was incredibly awkward to sit there and eat it, but the food was good and we managed to convince Remus not to start a food fight, so not bad, overall. And then… Well actually that's about the only thing that's gone right this morning, unless you're willing to count Logan, Apathy, Depression and Anxiety disappearing off somewhere so there are technically less of us arguing to be a win. Yeah. Even I can't imagine the arguments that would break out if they were here too. Between Roman's singing, Patton's fussing over my language (Listen, sophisticated my ass, you make puns, you can't talk. Fuck happens to be exactly the word I'm looking for and I'm fucking using it!), Remus's comments, Deceit's comments (Yes keep talking you're certainly not distracting me) I swear--

"Hey since like Anxiety's not here can we go back to our rooms?" I speak up.

"Fine!" Deceit gives in, head buried in his bowler hat. "But you come back here the instant I summon you!"

"Sure thing Jekyll and Lied!" Roman grins, skipping off. "Bye nerds! No! Remus don't follow me--"

"I'm going to go eat a cookie." Patton declares, earning a raised eyebrow from Deceit.

I just sink out, ignoring the look on Deceit's face. Stupid Light Sides. Stupid Deceit. Stupid Remus. Stupid Anxiety or Protectiveness or whatever the hell that monster is.

I scream in frustration, slamming my fist into the nearest punching bag. Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid--

I pick up the nearest thing, a spherical lead weight, and throw it at a target. It shears through the padding, landing with a heavy crash. Ignoring the sudden pain in my shoulder, I rip a dagger off the wall and hurl it too. I stomp about the room, kicking away anything in my path, tossing thing after thing at the dartboards, and then at my punching bags when I've successfully destroyed all of the targets with everything from knives to axes to actual darts.

The cacophony of crashing and my own yelling helps. A little. Not enough! I strike at the punching bag again. I don't miss the tough leather.

… I also don't miss the brick wall. I draw back, snarling obscenities as I cradle my injured hand. Is it fractured or just badly bruised? Did I sprain my wrist? I growl. Hell if I know. It's definitely a lot bloodier than one punch ago though. I groan, sinking out. Anx will be giving me shit all week if I don't get it wrapped up right away. Higher risk for infection or whatever. He's always grouching about how none of us take care of ourselves. Fucking hypocrite. Well, no matter, he'll have it bandaged up in a matter minutes, like always. Then I can go back to punching stuff (with my non injured hand, since I'm not a fucking idiot).

I freeze as I take in the scene before me. Anxiety wrapped around Thomas, Logan, Apathy and Depression as they chat semi-causally, some random show playing in the background, atmosphere only slightly tense. Oh. Right. That's not Anx, even though the way he looks up when I enter is still exactly the same. That's not the Anx I know, even though the way he shoots forward is exactly the same.

"Hurt!" He shrieks, and I barely stop myself from putting my hands over my ears.

There. That's not the same. He doesn't take a hasty step back and respect my boundaries when I shout at him not to touch me. He doesn't tell me to sit down. He doesn't give me a fidget cube to play with until I'm calm enough to hesitantly offer up my injured appendage. He doesn't quietly nod and take my hand and wrap it up. He doesn't ask what's bothering me. He doesn't nod understandingly when I say no. He doesn't listen patiently as I begin to rant not thirty seconds later. He just grabs my hand and does his stupid stupid stupid stupid healing thing.

There are no bandages. Then there is no injury. I growl at him, jerking my hand away as soon as he's done. There's no recovery period. There's no yelling for me to take it easy. There's no follow-ups. He doesn't demand to check it every two hours to ensure it hasn't gotten infected. It's just healed and that's it. Stupid Anxiety and his stupid healing.

I suddenly remember exactly who my audience is. Thomas and Logan are staring, Depression and Apathy, at least, are pretending nothing's happening for the sake of my pride. I'm still panting slightly, my hair and clothes messy and drenched thoroughly with sweat, my arms shaking from the exertion, tension and residual waves of anger.

"What?!?" I snap, irritated, fighting to shove Anxiety off as he tries to massage my aching muscles. He's too strong, obviously, and I end up seated on the couch, the glass of water that was forced down my throat already refilled, the pain in my shoulders gone far too fast for it to be natural.

"... Nothing." Thomas answers after a moment. "Er… are you alright?" He asks. "Do you… Do you want to talk about it?"

I growl at him, finding his tone and questions to be far far far too much like Anx's for my liking.

"What do you care?! Fuck off!"

Thomas swallows.

"... That wasn't very nice."

"Did you think I'd be nice Sanders? I'm wrath dumbass!!"

"I…" Thomas visibly fumbles for an answer. "We do care." He finally says, "I care."

"You didn't know I existed before yesterday afternoon!!" I snarl. "You don't know me!"

"I'd like to get to know you." He mumbles.

I flip him off. His face drops, but then he manages a tight smile.

"Stay a while. Watch some TV with us. We don't have to talk, just… Stay?"

"Like I have a choice." I grouch, squirming against Anxiety's grip before giving up and settling down.

Stupid Anxiety. Stupid Thomas. Stupid Light Sides. Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid.

Stupid feelings.

---

Funny story, I was actually having writers block up until the thing that happened to Wrath actually happened to me. Well not all of it obviously. I was just practicing Taekwondo and uh. Swung a little too hard and didn't miss the cupboard door. Whoopsies. Nothing too bad, just a bruise, but then I realised that that'd totally be something that'd happen to Wrath!

Poor guy, he really misses Virgil, even if he won't admit it. How many characters are in denial? Definitely not practically all of them on one level or another.

Taglist (taken from the taglist repository and those who I saw interacted with the previous post, tell me if you want to be added or removed): @legendsgates @rainbowbowtie @10moonymhrivertam @callboxkat @nonasficcollection @supernovainthenightsky @evoodo123 @katelynn-a-fan @dwbh888 @grouptalekindnesssoul @the-hoely-bleach @anvil527up @fanficloverinthesun @gigglyscribbles @sure-i-exist @reconditesocks @quietmob @angrycatlovesfandoms @battlebunnyteardropsinthesun @kismet-ignis @lgbtqiaemo @relatiwiki @selenechris @bumbybee3 @torotitanium @kuroyurishion @insert-chaotic-enby-name @seren4d3 @mcgonagalls-witches @b-o-o-o-mep @the-sympathetic-villain @ace-in-a-shopping-cart @melochy @naturallyunstablegamer @waywarddemigod221b @ironemrys @croftersjam15 @weird-gremlin @janusissmol @coffeeoverdosedshipper @gayerthansnek-stans-lisa @bloopadboop @silvarraven @wasinotwantedatthisexactsecond @itzfemalemarionette1-fazbear

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emily-strange · 4 years ago

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Sparks Fly

Thank you for all the feedback on chapter 2! I hope you like this one.

Still a lot of talking but the action is coming in the next chapter haha I promise!

Chapter 3

Pairing: Billy Butcher x OFC

Warnings: Swearing, Mention of Violence, *very* mild mention of child abuse (very very small), Mention of Drugs and Weapons.

…………………………………………………..

Emmy lies on the ratty old sofa and dozes.

After Butcher left, she went exploring and found a shower with some clean (she hoped) towels. The water was freezing but it meant she was able to get the dirt and grime off of her. She grabbed a tank top from her bag but after looking at her hoodie decided that she didn’t fancy putting the gross thing back on.

In one of the dingy bedrooms she found a short-sleeved shirt with a ridiculous pink pattern on it. She gave it a sniff and after determining it was cleaner than her hoodie, she put it on. It swamped her smaller frame but it kept the chill off. After finding an in-date energy bar, she collapsed back onto the sofa and eventually dozed off.

This is where she is when (who knows how many hours later) the door of the safe house bashes open.

“It’s done MM!” Butcher shouts as he comes stomping into the livingroom. MM follows carrying a woman over his shoulder as he grumbles. Emmy bolts upright and is ignored by both men when they storm into one of the bedrooms.

As she sits, calming her breath from the intense wake up, a third man comes hurrying into the room. He secures the door and mutters to himself in French. When he spots Emmy sitting wide-eyed on the sofa, he straightens himself out and rushes to sit next to her, extending his hand.

“Bonjour.” he says delicately and takes her hand, giving it the briefest of kisses, “You are, the…”

Emmy smiles and takes back her hand. Something about this man puts her at ease, his demeanour is calm despite his rapid breathing and dishevelled appearance.

“Um, Emmy.” She answers and he smiles widely.

“Un beau nom!” he says and Emmy shakes her head laughing a little, “Ah, uh, beautiful. Beautiful name. I’m…”

“….FRENCHIE!” Butcher shouts, interrupting the quiet, “Get tha fuck in there ‘nd help MM restrain ya girlfriend.” He watches Emmy smile genuinely at Frenchie and after the night they’ve had it pisses him off. A lot. Frenchie’s caused too much trouble!

Frenchie smiles warmly at Emmy and glares at Butcher before going to the bedroom where MM is. As the door closes, Emmy catches sight of the woman they’d carried in.

“What happened?” she asks quietly.

Butcher takes off his coat and tosses in onto the sofa next to Emmy. He runs a hand down his face and ignores the question. Before she can ask again, MM and Frenchie come out of the bedroom. MM making a beeline for the fridge.

The tension is thick as Frenchie moves to another corner of the room, his hands in his pockets. He looks down at the ground while MM downs a bottle of beer. Butcher heaves a big sigh and puts his hands on his hips, looking like a teacher about to scold his students.

“We have a fuckin’ long day t’morow alrigh’? Last thing I need is you at each ovas throats. We lost tha female ‘nd now we have tha female. So end of.”

Emmy points to herself and queries, “Who, me?”

“No not fuckin’ you.” Butcher growls and Emmy sarcastically throws her hands up in fake surrender. He then turns to MM.

“Go home. Get some rest.” he then turns to Frenchie, “You, make she’s definitely secure before hittin’ the hay.” Both men nod before moving to leave. Suddenly Butcher shouts, getting everyone’s attention again, “OH! And no more fuckin’ strays alrigh’! I didn’t think I’d actually haveta say it but…..fuck. Come on.”

MM scoffs and leaves with a shake of his head.

Even though Frenchie looks like he wants to have his say, he doesn’t. He does however look between Emmy and Butcher before shrinking into the bedroom housing the female.

Butcher checks his phone and collapses into a ratty chair that matches the sofa. He tiredly hangs his head back and closes his eyes.

For a moment Emmy just sits and waits….but that grows old very quickly.

“Okay, look, I don’t know what’s happening here oooor who that girl is but…..enough. I’m not a fucking stray and I definitely won’t be ‘restrained’ so…either let me leave or kill me.” She says sternly. Anger and annoyance bubbling up inside her.

Butcher doesn’t move. And for about 30 seconds Emmy wonders whether he’s actually asleep. Then he opens his eyes and looks at her.

“Wanna beer?” he says airily. Catching Emmy off guard.

“Um, no I’m good.” She says, “What game’re you playing?”

Butcher pushes himself up from the chair and grabs a beer from the fridge, taking a long swig.

“Oh luv, this ain’t a game. That girl in there is doped up to her fuckin’ eyeballs in summit called ‘Compound V’. Know anythin’ about that?” he asks, watching her face carefully.

“What? No. Why would I?” Emmy replies getting up from the sofa.

Butcher takes a second to look her over. She’s cleaner than when he left, she obviously found the shower. And she’s changed. He smirks a bit to himself when he sees how big his shirt is on her.

“You said ya family pushed drugs. They’re also on Vought’s payroll.” He states, keeping his mind on track.

“Yeah they do. Did.” Emmy says, quickly catching herself, “But like, Coke you know. Sometimes Meth if the money was right. Never heard of…whatever V.”

Butcher eyes Emmy and takes another swig of his beer. She can see that her answer has satisfied that part of his questioning. She groans, “Look. I’m losing it here okay? You gotta tell me what you want man.”

“That’s my shirt.” Butcher says quickly gesturing to Emmy.

“Oh..” she stutters, looking down at the shirt, “Did you…is that okay?”

Without answering, Butcher pulls out the piece of paper he took from Emmy earlier, putting it down on the table in the kitchen area.

“I sent a copy to a cop mate of mine. She’s gonna look inta it.” He grabs three more beers from the fridge and hands one to Emmy before collapsing into the chair again. Emmy stands for a moment with the beer, unsure what to do next. Butcher sees her hesitation and can’t help but chuckle.

“Look luv. I’m bloody knackered. No ones dyin’ t’night....well….unless that thing in there gets loose.” He says gesturing to the room with Frenchie and the Female.

“Fine.” Emmy says with a sigh and drinks some beer. She starts to sit down but stops herself, “You know what?! Not fine. No. Why are you keeping me here?! I don’t know anything. But I DO know what you’re doing. Keeping me off guard, on my toes, hoping I’ll slip…..well there’s nothing to slip!”

Butcher smirks, he’s always liked a feisty woman.

“I get that you hate people with….powers or whatever but like I said, I didn’t know I had any until recently.”

“Right, so what ya sayin’ is, you’ve not hurt no one wiv it yet?” Butcher asks knowing the answer.

Emmy stutters for a second, then drains more than half of her beer before sitting to perch on the edge of the sofa cushion. She squares her shoulders and looks at Butcher.

Butcher smiles and even though he’d never admit it, he’s impressed with how together she seems. Frazzled, sure, but she’s a far cry from the girl in the alley.

Emmy basically growls and shoots daggers at Butcher saying, “My names Emmy by the way. Not ‘luv’ and definitely not ‘sparky’.”

“I know.” Butcher answers quickly with zero emotion on his bearded face. Emmy can’t help the roll of her eyes and that only makes him want to annoy her more. He knows he can be such a child sometimes.

“Look. The family…..they were bad people. Are bad people…..” Emmy starts and mumbles the next part, “…I didn’t get them all” She drinks the rest of her beer and Butcher gestures with his bottle asking if she wants another. Which she does.

With another beer in her hand, Emmy turns and sits cross-legged on the sofa. She looks at Butcher and agrees mentally with his earlier statement. He looks exhausted. She knows she should be scared but from a young age Emmy’s always had this feeling that she’s been through worse. She’s survived worse. “Look, what do you wanna know?”

Butcher narrows his eyes at her and hums audibly, “Tell me about this family….mafia shit.”

“Um, okay so like I said. I grew up with them and you don’t just get to walk away when you’re 18….by then you know too much. About the weapons, the drugs, all that stuff. Every couple of years they’d take in another kid and sometimes they stuck and sometimes...they…didn’t.” Emmy pauses to have some of her new drink and grows uncomfortable under Butcher’s penetrating gaze. He takes note of her tense grip on the bottle and the darting of her eyes. She won’t focus on anything for too long. It seems that she may not be afraid of him and The Boys, but she’s scared of something.

“What happened when they didn’t stick?” Butcher asks when he senses her getting agitated. Better to have her focus and get it over with.

Emmy swallows, “Well. Sometimes a van would pick them up randomly one day. Or…they just disappeared. I’m pretty sure they’re dead. I have zero proof of that but it was always a bit of a threat you know? If you acted up. If you didn’t want to work.”

Butcher nods and the grip on his own beer intensifies. He grew up in a house run on fear. Imagining all those kids dealing with the same thing, without anyone to stand up for them. It makes him see red. Before he can dwell on it too much, Emmy continues.

“I wasn’t great with the books. Maths isn’t really my thing...” She laughs humourlessly, “…but when they showed me how to make the drugs and put together the guns, I just put my head down and did it. I planned to run a few times but always chickened out.”

“You were’a kid.” Butcher says resolutely.

“Yeah” Emmy nods, “But I’m not anymore…was still afraid.”

For a few seconds the two of them just watch each other in silence.

Butcher recognises the same self-hatred he sees whenever he looks in the mirror and Emmy, for once, feels no judgement directed towards her.

“I was weak. I didn’t help anyone but myself…About 10 years ago kids stopped getting dropped off. That was a fucking awful time. They were pissed. That’s about the same time Vought stopped the payments. From what I could tell from the paperwork anyways. I didn’t have that much time to peruse.”

Emmy hadn’t noticed but while she was talking, Butcher had swapped out her now empty beer for another one.

“I think that’s why they started shipping…people” Emmy grimace’s, “more money I guess? Anyway. When I found out I broke into the head office and just…..”

“Snooped?” Butcher finishes and gives Emmy a smirk that makes her stomach flutter. Maybe it’s the beer…

“Yeah, snooped. I found the Vought accounts. I was transferring the PDFs onto a drive but was…interrupted…”

Butcher gestures with his bottle to Emmy’s face, “That how you got the bruises? The ones I didn’t give ya.”

“Yeah. Boss and two of his sons. He has a few. While his sons were…giving the bruises, the boss just sat back and lit up a cigarette. I hate him…so fucking much.” Emmy stares off past Butcher and he smiles to himself. The type of rage she has is something he hoped Hughie would show signs of by now. He knows she said she can’t start fires but if asked, he’d of put money on her eyes shining red with flames.

“He always did that you know. Lit one up while someone else did the dirty work. No matter what it fucking was…those fucking white sticks poking out of his fat, ugly face. Then all of a sudden, that fat face was on fire. And before I knew it, everything was on fire.” Emmy laughs, “But I was just stood there…in the fire and not burning. It didn’t hurt at all. Before everything went completely to shit, I managed to print off one of the account files and ran….and then some asshole kicked me in the face!”

Emmy finishes her story by raising her bottle to Butcher in a ‘cheers’.

She laughs again before drinking but Butcher doesn’t join in. He looks at the fresh bruises blooming over her cheeks and jaw and internally flinches. Emmy notices his grim expression but before she can say anything, it disappears.

“Look, we’re bad guys. But we’re not that.” Butcher says leaning forward, putting his elbows on his knees, “Whatta you willin’ to do to get answers?”

Emmy drains her beer and rubs at her tired eyes. Damn she feels tipsy.

“Umm, I dunno. Burn people alive apparently.” She answers, louder than anticipated and giggles. Butcher shakes his head and finishes his own bottle. Putting it on the ground by his feet.

“The girl in there was kept in a cage and pumped with some kinda supe speed…my job is to find out why…” Butcher begins but is cut off by Emmy’s hand throwing itself into the air.

“I’ll help!!!!” she says enthusiastically.

“Alrigh’ then.” Butcher nods and gets up, “Get some rest. N stay outta that room. Fucker killed many people t’day. Probably best you don’t run inta her until Frenchie can calm her the fuck down again.”

Butcher scoffs when Emmy salutes him. For a supe, she sure can’t handle her drink.

He watches her lie down and snuggle into the uncomfortable sofa like it’s a 5* mattress. He grabs his coat and throws it over her before making his way to the other bedroom. He stops when Emmy quietly calls his name. He turns and can just about see that her eyes are closed and that she’s pulled his coat up around her.

“…..I’m not sorry. About them. I’m not sorry.” She whispers.

Butcher turns the lights off and makes his way to bed without answering.

But he does smile.

#the boys #the boys tv #the boys amazon #karl urban #billy butcher x reader #billy butcher x oc #billy butcher x ofc #billy butcher #the frenchman #frenchie #mm #mothers milk #the female #kimiko #sparks fly #billy the butcher

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thorne93 · 5 years ago

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Unforeseen Chasm (Part 2)

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together.

Word Count: 3284

Warnings: Language,

Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my novels). It’s a collaboration with the amazing @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo. It started as a funny “What if…?” and it evolved and got huge. This took two years to write. We are both proud and happy and we hope you enjoy it. It follows from Thor 1 to Endgame in the MCU. Some of the timelines may be off in order to fit certain people, and some characters may show up earlier or in different ways than they have in the movie. But for the most part, it follows the MCU. It also has a bit of crossover with some other Marvel characters throughout the story.

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Once you dropped the man known a Thor off at the hospital, you all returned to your research trying to figure out just what the hell that was last night. What was the light? What was that funnel? What kind of tornado appears like that out of nowhere?

“Jane,” you said, looking at the pictures, “does something seem off to you here?” you asked, holding a photo up.

“Yeah… Where’s Ursa Minor?” she asked.

“My thoughts exactly. We better show Selvig.”

And so you did. You showed him all the oddities from last night, when Darcy noticed that Thor was actually inside the weird event. A few photos were taken and a silhouette of a man was inside of the cloud, that man had to be Thor, and he would have all the answers you needed.

The four of you went back to the hospital, only to find that he'd broken out of his restraints. Feeling defeated, you went back to the car, where Jane hit him again with her car. He had come out of nowhere and she backed into him.

“Jane, are you just determined to kill our only evidence?” you asked in a slightly irritated tone as you got out of the car.

“I’m not doing this on purpose!” she snapped back.

You knelt beside him and examined him. “Are you okay?” you asked softly.

He looked up at you and gave a slight frown. “Yes, I’m quite alright.”

“Good,” you kindly said. “Would you mind coming with us? We… want to talk to you,” you said, glancing to Jane who nodded, affirming your request.

“As you wish.”

With that, you and Erik helped him up, got him in the camper, and got him back to the lab.

All of you introduced yourselves while Jane got him some clothes he could wear instead of the hospital gown he was in. He went to change and you stared at him, not because he was muscular and attractive. You stared at him because of that familiar feeling you got when you were around him, and for some strange reason, you felt… better when you were near him. You felt energized, stronger, like you could take on the world.

And although he seemed… not quite right, something was just too coincidental that his name was Thor and he knew of a Bifrost. Unless he was just entirely loony, and decided to take on that persona, he looked the part of Thor, and knew at least a few key things about a world in which it looked like he belonged.

“This mortal form has grown weak. I need sustenance,” he suddenly said and you jumped up.

“I could make you some food,” you offered.

“What? No. He can eat some PopTarts,” Jane countered. “We need you to tell us what happened last night,” she instructed as Thor walked towards the kitchen.

“Jane, please. Give him a few minutes. You’ve run him over twice and clearly he’s still a little dazed,” you pleaded.

“Fine, but I want answers,” she informed firmly before sitting down with the other two at the breakfast table.

You walked over to the cabinet and pulled down some pop tarts and handed them to him. “Sorry about her, she can get a little… passionate when it comes to her work,” you said quietly as your eyes drifted to her.

“What is this?” he asked, taking the box.

“Oh,” you said, laughing. “These are pop tarts. A breakfast food. Do they not have them where you’re from?” you asked, noting his accent.

“No,” he informed.

“Ah, well all you do is--” you popped open the box, pulled out a silver package, ripped it open, and handed him a piece “--open the box, open the sleeve, and eat.”

He looked at it for a moment before shoving nearly the whole thing in his mouth. “I like this. This is good. More!” With that, he yanked the box from you, making you laugh.

“Have them all if you want.”

After he downed the entire box, he informed you all he was still hungry so you went to a diner down the street. The entire time you sat there, all you could try and think of was where you’d seen him before, other than in the mythology books -- which, that couldn’t be real. Thor seemed to be intrigued by you too because he seemed to steal a couple of curious glances your way as well.

As soon as Thor seemed to finally be full, he heard about the “satellite” wreckage that landed fifty miles west of town. Once he heard of it, he seemed hellbent on getting it.

“It’s not what they say it is,” Thor insisted.

“Well what is it?” you inquired.

“It’s Mjolnir, and it belongs to me. If you take me there right now, I will tell you all the answers you seek,” he promised and your heart swelled.

“Jane!” you said, turning to her in joy. “Let’s go!”

“Can I have a word with you two?” Erik requested and you glanced back to Thor before walking a few feet away. “Please don’t do this.”

“Do what? Take him to see some wreckage? He’s promising us answers, Erik,” you stated, pleading. You couldn’t explain it, but Thor seemed sincere and kind, and all you wanted to do was help him. You didn’t get any sort of odd feelings from him.

“Do you hear yourself? Do you hear him? Thor? Bifrost? Mjolnir? It’s all stories, all tales I was told as a child. That’s all they are, are tales. He’s delusional and he’s dangerous.”

“We’re just giving him a lift to a crater site,” you insisted.

“Jane,” Selvig started, turning to her, trying to reason with her. “Please. Don’t. I don’t like the idea of this.”

Jane gave him a torn look before glancing at you with apology in her face.

“Jane, no...No! Come on!” you pleaded but she just gave you a sympathetic look before telling Thor she couldn’t take him.

“Then this is where we say goodbye,” he said before bowing, saying goodbye to you all and kissing Jane’s hand. His eyes lingered on you for a moment when he told you goodbye, but then started to walk off, but something about him retreating made you feel… sad, almost... homesick.

Just as you all began walking away, a truck with Jane’s equipment stopped right in front of you all.

“Uh, Jane--”

“What?! Hey! That’s mine!” she shouted before the two of you took off running towards the lab. “What the hell is going on here?” Jane demanded as you stood beside her.

“Ms. Foster, I’m Agent Coulson, with SHIELD,” a man in a black suit stated and you recognized him. You’d seen him once before… hanging around Stark’s tower.

“Is that supposed to mean something to me? You can’t do this!” Jane shouted as she tried desperately to grab at the things that were being taken.”

“Jane. Jane. This is a lot more serious than you realize. Let it go,” Selvig advised in a cautious voice, making your eyes scan the man and the other men in suits working diligently to clear all the work from the last several weeks.

How could they do this? How could some company or government program just waltz into a private scientific lab and seize any data they see fit? Which reminded you… there was a recorder in your pocket from last night, a recorder in which you used all the time to take notes out loud to transcribe later for Jane. You thought better when you spoke. You subtly felt it to make sure it was still there, then rested your hand inside your jeans to keep it secure in your hand.

“Let it go? Let it go? This is my life!”

“We’re here investigating a security threat. We need to appropriate your records and all your atmospheric data,” Coulson informed.

“By ‘appropriate’ do you mean ‘steal’?” Jane asked as she followed the men to a van where they were loading the last bit of your things.

“How can you do this?” you asked in an oddly calm voice, sadness tinging every word as you looked at the man in the suit.

“Here. This should more than compensate you for your trouble,” he tried, handing Jane a check.

“I can’t just buy replacements at RadioShack! I made most of this equipment myself!”

“Then I’m sure you can do it again.”

“And I’m sure I can sue you for violating my constitutional rights!” Jane yelled.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Foster, but we’re the good guys.”

“So are we! I’m on the verge of understanding something extraordinary. And everything I know about this phenomenon is either in this lab or in this book and you can’t just take this with--”

At that, another man in a suit grabbed Jane’s prized journal and tossed it in the van and closed the doors.

“Hey!” she said and you held her back.

“Jane,” you tried.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” he said before disappearing around the side of the van, making you feel hollow. Weeks of research. Weeks of work. Hours upon hours of math -- gone. How could the world be so cruel? At this point you weren’t sure what to do. The ethical thing would be to stay with Jane and help her rebuild her research, but you needed funding. Maybe some labs back in NYC would have an opening. Maybe Tony would take pity on you and --

Your phone began ringing and you stepped away to answer it.

“Hey, Shannon, could we talk later? I’m kind of in the middle of something…”

“Yeah, so am I,” she said with a knowing tone. “It’s called being in your city, well, town. You can’t call this a city.”

Your eyes lit up and some form of warmth refilled your body. Between saying goodbye to the strange Thor and losing your work, you needed something like this. You looked out of the wide windows of the lab into the streets of the town, expecting to see Shannon just standing there.

“You are? Where?”

“I’m on my way back into town, actually,” she corrected. “Wanna get some coffee?”

“Of course,” you said. “Meet me at Izzy’s Diner.”

You grabbed your purse and told the three researchers you’d be back. You left the lab like your heels were on fire and skated into the diner. You ordered a coffee and a plate of toast. About ten minutes later, Shannon emerged and a giant grin grew on your face. Within an instant you jumped up and wrapped her in a tight embrace, really needing your best friend.

“So what the hell are you doing here?’ you asked quickly, and excitedly, with a dash of strong curiosity.

“Did you hear about that satellite crash? About fifty miles west?” she asked, leaning forward on her arms.

“Yeah, kinda,” you said.

“It’s not a satellite. But anyway, Tony wanted me to investigate. Grab some readings off of it, so we can study it. I got there early this morning got my data, and then the SHIELD goons showed up, so I hightailed it. I pretended I was a tourist. Tony gave me this nifty watch that lets you read from a distance of 100 feet." She went to show you the tool but you shook your head and lowered her hand.

"That's great, but...SHIELD showed up and took all of our data."

"All of it?" she asked, shocked.

"Every bit. Just now. We saw them load it and haul it away," you noted, the sorrow in your voice not hidden as your eyes dropped to your plate.

Shannon sank back in her chair. "That's a bummer. I was going to ask you if you had anything I could bring Tony. I knew you were working in that area. I was hoping you had swiped some info."

"I've got something small but... not here," you said, glancing around.

"Right." She nodded.

"So how is Tony?" you wondered, wanting to get your mind off the bad events.

"He's... you know... Tony," she said with a laugh, that made you want to return the laugh.

"So he's still a stubborn, egotistical, asshole, genius?" you inquired.

"Bingo."

"And has that asshole-genius asked you out yet?" you asked with a quirk of your eyebrow.

"What? No," she responded, blushing, covering part of her face with her hand as if Tony were in the room now and could hear. "We aren't like that, okay? He doesn't like me like that."

You let out a loud, short laugh. "Oh my god, Shannon. You can bullshit Stark all you want, but me? No. You know damned well that I know how you feel about him."

"Yeah, well that doesn't change the fact that he doesn't like me," she quipped in a whisper.

"It does, because I know he does."

"Oh, and where is your proof?" she asked with a playful mocking face. "Hmm? Please, paint me a picture of how Tony Stark wants to be with his lab assistant."

"The way he looks at you," you said point blank, your tone making it clear it was obvious to everyone. "The fact that he made you lead lab director."

"That's qualifications, Y/N."

"He could've put you on bigger projects. Projects that don't take place inside Stark Tower? Projects that are all over the globe? but what does he do? He sticks you in the same floor, the same main room he works in."

"We are not discussing this," she said firmly, her cheeks getting redder.

"Why not?! He's into you! You should just ask him!"

"I'm not going to ask my boss if he's harboring feelings for me!" she whisper-shouted.

You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms.

"Well if you won't be reasonable, then maybe you'll listen to something crazy."

You launched into how you met Thor and everything he was saying, and you how believed he was telling the truth.

"Wait, let me get this straight. Jane runs over a guy with the research van, and you think he's some Norse God reborn?"

You shook your head. "No, I think he is the Thor. I think he is very old and very powerful."

"What makes you think that? He probably read the same books you did in college but he took them a little too far," she noted.

"No, I'm telling you, Shannon. He talks about this like it's his home. He talks so comfortably about it as if I were to say 'Hand me your phone' or 'Get in the car.'"

"Okay so he's been crazy a long time. Since when do you defy logic and reason?" she challenged, wondering why you were believing a man who was probably insane.

To be honest, you knew how it sounded. You'd been dwelling on it all day since he said his name was Thor last night. But there were too many coincidences for this not to be something weird.

"Since Newton was called crazy, since Einstein was ridiculed, since Copernicus was railroaded."

Shannon started to roll her eyes but you pressed on.

"Come on, you have to admit, it's pretty weird that the night he shows up in the middle of the desert, some weird 'thing' crashed nearby. You saw it, did it look like a hammer?"

She seemed to stall, which meant you were right.

"Well... yeah, but that doesn't mean--"

"Aha! See? I'm telling you... This is the real deal."

"I think you studied that crap too much that you forgot what's real and not real," she muttered.

"Shannon, science is always telling us to broaden our minds, our thinking, our understanding. We've all agreed that it would be wildly arrogant to assume we're alone in the cosmos, why is this any different?"

“Because it’s insane,” she stressed. “You’re talking about magic and realms and teleportation devices.”

“Yes, but thirty years ago nearly all of Tony's inventions would've been called impossible. And now look where he is! Look where science has brought us.”

“Okay, and what if what you’re saying is true? What are you going to do?” she pressed. “You gonna tell everyone? You gonna ask him to take you back with him?"

A small sparkle twinkled in your eye before Shannon began going, "No. Oh no. I know that look. No! Are you mad?"

"Possibly," you said, tilting your head to the side. "But what do I have to lose? I just lost all of my most recent work, he didn't threaten me. The least I can do is ask!"

"Y/N! Y/N!" she shouted as you got up from the table, throwing some cash down and making your way outside. "This is crazy. You don't even know where to find him!"

"Can't be hard in a population of five," you muttered, looking around for him on the street. "I need a car. Dammit. Give me your car," you instructed. "We'll take him.”

“I’m not so sure I want some homeless crazy dude in my car,” she stated as the two of you walked down mainstreet.

“Please? We’re just taking him to that hammer. He said earlier he would tell us information. This way we both get what we want. I can see if he’s telling the truth and you get more data for your boy toy.” You flashed a cheeky grin and began walking again.

“He is not my b-- Ugh! Fine. Only because I love you and I want to prove to you that Norse Mythology is just that -- myth. Something made up for children or for primitive beings with primitive gods.”

“I don’t care what your reasons are so long as you take us,” you said with a smile. Just as you said that, you found Thor inside a pet store. It seemed easy to find him, almost like… Almost like he was a beacon to you. Without even seeing him, you were drawn to him.

You texted Jane and told her where you were going and she said she wanted to take you all, to come along. So, instead of taking the fancy ass car Tony bought Shannon, you took the broken down camper. Jane and Thor sat up front, chatting a bit while you and Shannon caught up some more. You introduced the two of them and set off.

Eventually, talk turned to Thor and his life.

“You’re brave to do this, you all are,” he noted.

“I’m just trying to find answers,” you stated honestly.

“Yes, it seems we all are. But you three maidens seem to be rather clever in this realm. Much like my friends back home,” he said with a fond smile.

“Maidens? Realm?” Jane asked, her voice saturated with amusement and confusion.

“You think me strange?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Good strange or bad strange?”

“I’m not quite sure yet… I’m sorry but, who are you? Really?” Jane pressed.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

“You promised us answers,” she reminded.

“What you seek, it’s a bridge,” he started.

“Like an Einstein Rosen bridge?” she asked, excitement in her voice, meanwhile you began to tingle all over.

“More like a rainbow bridge.”

“A rainbow bridge… like… Like in Asgard?” you questioned.

Thor turned around to try to face you better from his position in the passenger seat. “Yes, exactly. I thought Midgardians didn’t know anything about us.”

“I… I studied your… culture.”

“She means,” Shannon started, “that she studied mythology that happens to sound like where you came from but I’m sure it’s just a coincidence,” she said with a pointed look.

You gave her a look back, before the four of you settled in for the rest of the drive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List:

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Loki:

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#unforeseen chasm #loki x reader #tony stark x ofc #loki #tony stark #thor

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tetrakys · 5 years ago

Text

Behind the Mask

This is the story I wrote for BV zine. It’s set in Eldarya around episodes 16/17.

---

The moment I stepped outside HQ, I felt like I’d been teleported to a new, magical world. Again. This time no mushrooms had been involved.

What was usually the busy, messy and kinda dirty market square, was now a ballroom out of a fairy tale. Long, scarlet drapes surrounded the area, giving it an air of sumptuous elegance. Small flames floated in the air, looking like sparkling chandeliers. Musicians played strange instruments that reminded me of violins and flutes of my world.

But nothing surprised me as much as the people. Everyone was impeccably dressed in amazing gowns and suits, their faces covered in colourful masks. Alajea and Karenn had told me that faeries took very seriously the festivity of Samhain, the Gaelic precursor of our Halloweeen, but I had no idea how seriously.

They’d explained that, when their people still lived on Earth, it was the one night where they could walk freely among humans without fear of being recognised. Human believed that during this night the walls between different worlds thinned and could easily be crossed. They all wore masks and costumes to blend between the faeries and demons they assumed travelled the Earth during that night. Once Eldarya had been created the faeries kept the celebration as a reminder of the life of hiding and fear they’d left behind.

I looked down at my elegant but simple white gown. At first, I thought I might be overdressed with the soft tulle skirt and the tight corset that Purriri had persuaded me to buy. She’d even offered the mask that currently covered half of my face at a discount. Now I was happy I’d spent a big chunk of my savings on this dress, at least I didn’t stand out like a sore thumb.

I walked slowly around the edges of the dancefloor trying to spot people I might know. At some point I thought I recognised Karuto, those horns kinda gave him away, but he looked too busy handling the food to care about chatting with me.

A dancing couple caught my eye. It couldn’t be… yes! Karenn and Chrome! Despite the mask I could tell he’d turned five different shades of red and was stuttering something I couldn’t hear. She looked cute in a blue dress and was smiling at him cheekily. Also, she was leading. I didn’t know what she had in mind, but poor Chrome.

“Mmm…” a soft, smooth voice whispered at my back, “you look lovely tonight my lady. May I offer you a drink? Or maybe you could offer me one?”

I turned around to find myself face to face with a tall, black haired masked man, dressed in a Victorian style.

“N-Nevra?”

“I’m not Nevra, my lady. Tonight I’m the blood-thirsty Count Dracula,” he replied with a fanged smile.

A moment of silence went by while I tried to grasp the situation.

“Let me get this straight. You, a vampire, dressed up as a… vampire??” I asked incredulous.

“Brilliant, isn’t it? This year I’m definitely going to win best costume.”

“B-but… how? Why?”

“There are so many definitions of vampire in your world. At first, I wanted to go with the sparkling one, but then I decided that you can never do wrong with a classic,” he explained. “You humans are so funny. Why would vampires live in isolated mansions, we like to PAR-TY!”

I genuinely didn’t know how to reply.

“Ah you found the kid!” said a falsely rough, deep voice, which belonged to a man with long blue hair, beard and moustaches. “Here is my dinner! Oh-oh-oh!”

“Ezarel? W-what are you dressed as?”

“Mph… you’re so stupid. Can’t you see the bag full of presents? I’m clearly Bluebeard!”

“I understand the facial hair, but… the presents?”

“How could you not know the fairy tales from your own world,” he replied irritated. “Don’t you know that Bluebeard brings gifts to kids and, once they sleep, eats them?”

“I think you’ve mixed up three of four different characters here. Have you even read the fable?”

“Nah,” he replied with his usual big, devilish smile. “Who has time for these things.”

“Wait…” I said, finally grasping the situation. “You just wanted an excuse to wear your fake beard again, didn’t you?”

“BINGO!” he laughed. Since I’d thought him a few Earthling slangs he kept using them whenever he had a chance just to annoy me.

“It wasn’t funny the first time,” I said remembering how he’d tried to trick me into believing that I’d been in a coma for hundreds of years, “and it’s not funny now. Bluebeard is a horrible character, basically a serial killer, he murdered his own wives!”

“Uhm…” he looked surprised. “I didn’t know that.”

“Isn’t the point to look scary?” Nevra said patting Ezarel on the back, ”even though you look more hilarious than scary. Now, Valkyon got it right.”

“Where is he?” I asked scanning the crowd without recognising him. I wished I could chat with Valkyon for a bit, I loved spending time with him, he always made me feel at ease. “What is he dressed as?”

“I’m only going to give you a hint: It’s furry.” He laughed.

“Uh…?”

“You’ll see.”

I was scanning the area looking for Valkyon, when my eyes stopped on someone else. A man, dressed in a dark suit and black cape. He was wearing a white mask covering half of his face and I recognised him as the Phantom of the Opera. I didn't know the story was also famous in Eldarya, but apparently many of Earth's legends and fables had some sort of connection to faeries folklore.

The man was looking at me from the other side of the improvised ballroom, and even from afar I could see his eyes, which were of an impossible light shade of blue. I could tell his skin was dark from his chin and the strong line of his lips, the only parts of his body not covered by his outfit.

He was imposing, mysterious and his gaze completely unnerving.

"We have to go now." I almost jumped on the spot, suddenly remembering I was talking with the guys.

"Why, is something going on?"

"Well, we shouldn't really tell you this but… do you remember the knowledge-eating monster?" Nevra asked.

"The one who ate all the library's books and whose escape I was unjustly accused of?" I replied drily, "I have a vague recollection, yes."

"Well,” he continued, ignoring my sarcasm. “What you don't know is that those monsters come in couples. There was a second book, and we have found out today that it’s disappeared."

"WHAT?" I cried out alarmed.

"Shhh" Ezarel gestured for me to shut up. "You shouldn’t have said anything, Nevra."

"Don't worry Erika, Miiko asked us to keep our eyes open but the book has probably just been misplaced. Everything is going to be fine."

I wanted to believe him, but it wasn’t the first time I doubted the Guard’s judgment on important decision. Who would ever hide a monster who ate knowledge… in a book… in a library?

“The library is still mostly empty. If this monster really escaped, he would try to eat people’s memories like the previous one tried to do with me,” I pointed out nervously.

“Nah, this one is different, they are complementary. While one erases the stories it feeds on, the other makes them real. Anyway, we must run, see you later.” Ezarel said while they walked away.

I was left dumbfounded, what did it mean that the monster made the stories real? I kept ruminating on that thought for a while until someone broke me away from my thoughts.

“May I have this dance?”

I smiled at Leiftan, offering him my hand as he led me to the dancefloor. A slow, soft music was playing, and I tentatively put my arms on his shoulders, while he held my waist. It was probably the most intimate we’d ever been with each other, but it didn’t feel awkward. It felt right.

“I like the wings,” I said after a moment looking at the white attachments behind his back, “they’re so beautiful, they almost seem real.”

“You look really pretty in your costume.” He said changing the subject, slightly tightening his hold on my waist. “What is it?”

“T-thanks…” I said feeling some heat rise to my cheeks. “Have you ever heard of the white swan? The story is called Swan Lake.”

“No, will you tell me about it?” he asked looking genuinely interested.

“It’s about this princess, Odette, who is cursed by an evil sorcerer to live her life as a woman during the night and a swan during the day, unless she finds someone who swears to truly love her forever.” I explained. “I’ve always loved this story, since the moment my parents took me to the ballet when I was a child. But I… am a little embarrassed to admit that I also cried in the theatre.”

“Oh… is it a sad story? She doesn’t find love?”

“She does. As in many fables, a beautiful prince falls madly in love with her. But there are different versions of the ending. Sometimes love is not enough to save them.”

The music was about to end, but he hugged me closer, almost unwilling to let me go. I felt a little embarrassed and tried to keep the conversation going.

“I’ve always felt bad for Odette. Having to live a half-life, hiding, not being able to be herself completely. It would be so difficult to find true love, someone who could love her real self. What a terrible fate.”

He didn’t reply, as if lost in thought.

“I-I’m sorry, Erika. I… have to go check…” he stuttered after a minute, when the piece we were dancing to ended.

“The library monster,” I helped him, he was probably struggling to find an excuse to keep the secret. “I know. Nevra already spilled the beans. Do you need help…?”

“You’re kind.” He smiled his usual, sweet smile. “There’s no need. Please enjoy the party.”

Bowing down, he took my hand, leaving a small kiss on its back, and walked away.

"That wasn't very aengelic of him," replied a mysterious and somewhat ironic voice at my back. I turned around to find that man, the Phantom. "Running, leaving his dance partner all alone on the dancefloor. But a man’s loss is another man’s gain, may I?"

Without waiting for my reply, he took me in his arms and led us through the next dance. The music was slightly more upbeat, and there was something wild in the rhythm, almost primordial. I was strangely intrigued by this unknown man, there was something familiar in him, but I wasn’t going to drop my guard. His eyes meant danger, and his hold on me felt vaguely predatorial.

"The Light Guard is always busy, even during festivals.” I replied. “Do I know you?"

“Ah yes, the Guard and its mysterious business. I bet they have a lot of important, questionable tasks to attend to.” He commented, ignoring my question.

His answer surprised me. I knew not everyone at the village, and even in the Guard, was a big fan of the way things were handled around here. I knew I hadn’t been most of the time. No one was always vocal about it though.

“Mysterious business? What are you talking about?” I asked.

“We all know the Light Guard is not very forthcoming with the rest of the people here.”

“Yes, but…” I tried to play devil’s advocate. “They have their reasons most of the time… Safety and…”

I noticed then that he had led us to the refreshments area. Breaking his hold on me, he turned towards the pitchers of strange liquids.

“So, do you think the Guard cares about everyone’s safety?” He continued, while mixing odd coloured drinks.

“Of course,” I replied carefully, accepting the amber coloured drink he was handing me. It tasted sweet, almost like honey.

“So, let’s say there was a threat in the City of El, they would share the news with everyone?”

“It has happened in the past.” I pointed out.

“Only when the problem was too evident to hide. But what if that wasn’t the case. Let’s say there’s a monster running around right here, right now. Would they stop the festivities to keep people safe or would they keep up appearances until it was too late?”

I felt my blood getting cold in my veins. An awful suspicion started forming in my brain.

“Who the hell are you? What have you done?”

“A friend.” He simply replied, his lips twisting in a cruel smile. “I’ve done nothing really, except borrowing an old book from the library. Just an innocent prank. A little naughtiness should be expected during this night.”

“But…” I started to protest, looking around panicked. That’s when I noticed something strange was going on. A nearby boy dressed as a ghost, went to grab a glass and his hand passed through it without being able to touch it. He’d become incorporeal. A girl I had noticed before who was wearing beautiful, colourful make up that made her look like an Alfeli, turned into the companion right before my eyes.

“People think that when the mask drops you can see the real nature of who’s behind it, but it’s not true. It’s when you wear a mask and you’re not forced to fit in that you are really unmasked. You can be yourself and follow your instincts, go after what you really want.” I felt frozen on the spot, his words made no sense to me. “And you… what is it that you really want?” He whispered almost seductively in my ear. “You’re welcome for the drink, by the way.”

When I finally managed to turn around, he had disappeared. I didn’t have time to look for him though, because that’s when all hell broke loose. Everyone started turning into the very thing they were masked as. Most people had chosen to dress up as companions or characters of famous fables, but other had picked bolder and scarier options. I could see zombies, witches, monsters of different kinds.

OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod….

I had to do something, but I had no idea of what. Was I about to turn too? It didn’t look like it, I was feeling fine. You’re welcome for the drink he had said, had he given me a protective potion? Why?

It wasn’t time to ask myself questions I didn’t know the answer to. It was time to run.

I took off without really knowing where to go, but soon stopped in my tracks.

I should’ve probably gone looking for the guys, but where could I find them? I knew they had been on patrol and I knew the spot each of them was usually assigned to.

The beach, the edge of the forest, the gardens or the cave.

All these places… I didn’t know what to expect. I knew there were things planned for this evening. I’d heard rumours of a haunted house, a maze and other unknown spooky surprises.

And what if the guys had also been turned? Was it safer if I went back inside HQ and tried to solve this problem by myself? But I had no idea how.

That moment an image popped into my mind. His face. No matter what, I had to find him. It was what my heart was telling me to do.

Now I knew exactly where to go. Without wasting another moment, I started running.

---

This story has 5 different epilogues, each corresponding one of the LIs.

#beemoov fanzine #eldarya #lance #ashkore #leiftan #ezarel #nevra #valkyon #my writing #behind the mask

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helenarasmussen87 · 4 years ago

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Writing Asks

This the post where I know no one is going to ask me anyway.

1. Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic.

Something that is like a “Oh hey, what happens if we do THIS!” and go from there. Usually ends up having loads of emotions, comfort, angst, introspection, loads of kitchen sink dialogues, not too much action. Families, happy endings.

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Fluffy stuff and humourous stuff. I am a little too serious for either one and my humour is drier than the desert and very odd. So no.

3. Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

Teacher and Student relationships. Necrophilia, abuse of all sorts, underage. Just not my thing. I’ve gotten unable to stomach a lot of grimdark and super dark stuff as I get older so I won’t write it. But go ahead if that’s your thing.

4. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?

Two, since I can’t have more than two on the burner. Learned THAT early on and they’re Terror AU’s One is a fixit, but with health complications and angst. The other is a Modern Day AU which has two professors falling in love after one gets injured and the other worked as an EMT and helps to take care of him and they fall in love.

5. Share one of your strengths.

I can offer insights on what flows and what doesn’t. I can also happily shred my own drafts if they don’t work.

6. Share one of your weaknesses.

Action. I work at it, but it’s not my favourite. Or war writing.

7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

“Danny had to turn his head away to hide his smile, because he knew that it was a legitimate concern for Jose. Most of the time, he had jumped into bed with his partners first and then did the mating dance.

Although extremely smart in other aspects, dating and social interactions were always a bit skewed, because he was always second-guessing himself and nervous as hell.

“That’s actually how things work out in these situations. At least it did for me and my ex and for me and Claude.” Danny explained calmly, making Jose nod and take another pull of his slurpee.

“So what do I do? Like is there a time when I bring up the possibility of us sleeping together?” Jose asked, the words slightly mumbled as he chewed on the straw.

“You don’t bring it up. You’ll just know when the time is right for it to happen. Sex isn’t what a relationship should be built on. Yes, it’s nice and it’s part of it, but it’s not the end all to be all. Trust me on this. It will happen if it’s meant to happen.” Danny explained, hoping that he had put it all in the plainest and simplest terms he could for his friend.

I am proud of this because it was majorly borrowing from life and I can see the difference from earlier writing.

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

“Sergio laughed shortly. “I’ve already done enough of that, and look at where it’s gotten you. Yeah, legally I hold claim over you. I could make the club buy out your contract and sit at home all day, having litter after litter.”

Iker’s blood froze at that and he turned to look at Sergio to see if he really meant it, but Sergio’s face gave nothing away.

“Or I could sign your rights to the club and let them sell you wherever or to whomever. Take you out of Spain, or sell you to Getafe or Malaga. All of these things I could do. The club actually did bring it up at that meeting you didn’t show up for.”

Iker blinked, his hands going numb as Sergio’s wickedly honed words hit home.

“I’m not telling you this to hurt you. Or make you feel indebted. I’m telling this to you because you’re this close to losing your spot and that’s the last thing I want for you. But there’s only so much I can do for you.”

He sighed and looked at Iker dead in the eyes.

“I miss him too, Iker. I miss Antonio every fucking day. And I miss you.”

Iker swallowed hard as Sergio abruptly turned and left, slamming the front door and freeing him from the command so suddenly that Iker fell onto the couch and curled up in it.

He had no energy to do anything else. Not when he was all too aware he’d fucked up and fucked up big and needed to fix it.

Borrowed from life again and it was more of a dialogue that needed to be had when you finally realize how much you fucked up and how much you need to stop coasting and make it right.

9. Which fic has been the hardest to write?

ALL OF THEM! Kidding. I want to say the one I’m working on right now. I was lucky enough I got a ton of help fleshing it out. I can see the end of the 1st chapter and I am having a hell of a time writing Goodsir’s chunk. He’s turned out more emo and romantic than I was expecting.

10. Which fic has been the easiest to write?

The QuiObi prompts for the prompt week. Took me like two hours to knock them off and post.

11. Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby?

Its a passion and a hobby. It helped me through a lot of rough patches and keeps me sane.

12. Is there an episode above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?

Mostly music or a change in life. I tend to write when everything is in flux with me.

13. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Just write. Worry about editing later. Once you have something on the paper, fixing it up becomes easier.

14. What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Edit as you write. You don’t get anything done.

15. If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?

Oooh. I think it’s a toss up between my Qui-Gon/Jango fic in a pastoral setting where they have put their pasts behind and are farmers on Concord Dawn. Or the Werewolf fic I wrote during my RPF phase.

16. If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be?

Bloody hard. I would have to say Fitzier (Commander Fitzjames/Captain Crozier)

17. Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

Depends. Sometimes I go straight from beginning to end and sometimes I end up writing the middle and not figuring it out until later.

18. Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines?

Outlines. I have notebooks I jot down point form notes about the characters and the plot.

18. Stephen King once said that his muse is a man who lives in the basement. Do you have a muse?

Mine is a librarian or an alchemist trying to figure out answers and how things fit in.

19. Describe your perfect writing conditions.

A good playlist. Alone, in my room.

20. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

I revise it along the way when I sit down to write. Then before I post, I give it a once over to make sure it flows and makes sense.

21. Choose a passage from one of your earlier fics and edit it into your current writing style. (Person sending the ask is free to make suggestions).

All my old fics are honestly gone so I’m skipping this one.

22. If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?

Honestly? The Duo and Heero one I wrote about them being in an abusive relationship where they split up, then got back together again. I was again writing from life, and I have seen couples who did overcome it, but looking back, I think I should have written it that they separated and went their own ways.

Keep in mind I was very young when I wrote this, and I was in an abusive relationship myself and didn’t realise it at the time. He hit me once, apologised and never did it again. But he did end up manipulating me, gaslighting me, and emotionally abusing me until I finally had enough and left.

23. Have you ever deleted one of your published fics?

Yes. Loads of them due to me not wanting to finish them. Or the hosting sites going under.

24. What do you look for in a beta?

Someone who is honest, someone who knows the way I write, and has suggestions to fix those said things. But someone who is themselves is the best. Because they know what they want. Same here.

25. Do you beta yourself? If so, what kind of beta are you?

I do, simply due to lack of steady betas. Flow and story telling, but I also look for syntax and formatting as well as grammar. I will miss typos, so I run spell-check too. I mostly use a mental rubric. Teacher training.

26. How do you feel about collaborations?

I haven’t had a successful one due to the second person always deciding that they can’t follow through or up and disappearing. So I don’t do them.

27. Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

Oh my God! I read so much and so many different people that I can’t pinpoint three. I usually end up reading a fic or two, so I can’t say why I read the author.

28. If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

I haven’t done that. I do admit to having inspired by fics. I wouldn’t ever presume to do that. It just feels like a snub.

29. Do you accept prompts?

Not really. I can’t tailor write stuff consistently.

30. Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?

Oh always! I end up liking the characters that somehow never make it until the end. And in the Terror, unless you want to write angst all the time, you HAVE to ignore canon. And I mean BOTH the book and the show, since the book is nasty. The show is amazing, but oh my god is it depressing.

31. How do you feel about smut?

Yes damned please!

32. How do you feel about crack?

Depends on how well it’s done. Sometimes it is needed. Sometimes it’s like “Why?”

33. What are your thoughts on non-con and dub-con?

A bit tricky. I don’t mind non-con, but it has to be handled well. Dub-con, especially in A/B/O happens within context and it is usually dealt with. So I can tolerate that more than the first. Outright abuse, no.

34. Would you ever kill off a canon character?

Yes. Not often thought. But yes. I usually try and keep as many alive as I can though.

35. Which is your favorite site to post fic?

AO3, its a wild place and I love it for that reason.

36. Talk about your current wips.

It’s an AU where two professors that live in the same building and work in different faculties get thrown together and start to get to know each other. Due to circumstance, one gets injured and the other kind of volunteers to help take care of him, where they fall in love. The others in the vicinity do also. There’s Canadian shenanigans and baking.

37. Talk about a review that made your day.

That they really liked how I wrote Frank Randall and would like to see more with his son, an OC I created for the story.

38. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

I either delete, or give a generic reply and leave it. I’ve got stuff to do.

40. Write an alternative ending to [insert fic title] (or just the summary of one).

Nope. It just doesn’t work for me.

*somewhere I fucked up on the number but here you are*

Whoever wants to do this.

#about the author #asks #memes

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mrs-dragneel-stark-solo · 5 years ago

Text

Unforseen Chasm

Part 2 of Unforseen Chasm

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together.

Word Count: 3284

Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my other fic series). first major Collab with my best friend @thorne93 what was first a simple “what if” moment turned into a two year writing session and I’ve never been more prouder of myself than when i started my first series. goes through most of the MCU plots there are some changes to accommodate for what we wanted and there is a bit of a crossover between the MCU and other characters. I hope you guys enjoy reading this just as much as I enjoyed writing it.