#upon waking i was very disappointed to find it was just a dream

[midnight-mourning]

Hearts & Home

💘💘Midnight's DCA Valentine's Day 4💘💘

Woahhhh more cowboys.... That's CRAZY... hehe anywho, i very much enjoyed taking another crack at these idiots, hope you enjoy reading about them :)

Prompt: Valentines continuation of the prev wild west x yn request i made last time perchance :)c i liked your story you made with em a lot teehee

Word Count: 2203

Read here if you prefer ao3!

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You keep your eyes on the horizon, mouth a firm line as you scan the distance for any sign of life. 

Nothing but the vast expanse of white and grey stares back at you. They're not here. Again. 

The breeze blows by, chilling you once more, and you shake your head, deciding it's for the best to head inside. Despite they're seeming lack of care for you in the moment, you know they wouldn't want you to freeze. You think, anyway. 

This was the third week in a row now, they'd promised they'd be back this time. Not another letter, not another empty promise. But, you couldn't be too harsh on them, they still had jobs to do, and with the weather as of late, you're sure they're being worked hard to keep their ranch in tip-top shape. You were doing the same here, afterall. Though, you were handling roughly the same size property on your own, whereas their boss had multiple hands to help out besides your cowboys—

You shake your head, the door slamming shut behind you. 

The warmth of your home greets you, but it does little for your mood. You're less worried and more, disappointed. For well over a month now they'd been promising to visit you, their usual trips having become few and far between. 

You hadn't been given an explanation for this shift either. Only noting that when you did see them this last time they'd become a bit skittish, off-put even. Your usual affections weren't returned in full, and if you had thinner skin you'd be alarmed by this. For now, you were just concerned. And annoyed, incredibly annoyed. 

 You thought that after the confrontation of your feelings, things would be more defined between you. You'd been mistaken of such. Rather, you felt as if you were stuck in a bit of a limbo. Though, part of that was your own fault to be fair. 

You were each seemingly too scared to take that next step. To go from casual flirting, joking back and forth, late nights spent together to something more, intimate neither you nor Sun nor Moon has made the step. Sure, you'd gotten close. On several occasions.

When Sun would corner you in the barn for a brief 'chat' that was filled with far more actions than words. Or when late at night, when you couldn't sleep, you'd find yourself in your kitchen and Moon would come up behind you, offering sweet nothings of comfort in whispered words and chaste kisses. 

But that's all it was, wasn't it? You bitterly think as you swirl the coffee in your cup, the black liquid seeming to taint your very being in the moment. 

All of it, it meant nothing. And again, perhaps you were to blame for such. In those moments, it was you who pulled away in the end, it was you who hesitated and froze upon hearing those murmured expressions of desire. And for what, fear? Fear of what? It surely wasn't rejection, not at the surface level at least, you knew they both wanted for you as you wanted for them, to an extent at least. 

Commitment then. Stability. Even if you told yourself it's what you wanted, the idea of it seemed impossible, and therefore terrifying to you. Being able to trust someone, multiple someone's was unfamiliar to you, it always has been. To have it all so easily within your grasp made you feel as if you were living in a dream. So you were doing everything that you could to wake up. 

But still, even with your own insecurities, that didn't explain their odd behavior, or their sudden disappearance altogether. That, was something you'd need to determine on your own. 

And the best way to do that, was with a confrontation.

So, you sent another letter. And another. And another. 

If that damn courier was going to pass through here daily and use your land as a shortcut, you were going to make well sure you made use of him. 

You sent letters without waiting for a response. As despite your insistence and incessant writing, somewhere deep in you you knew that one was never going to be enough. 

But as the days grow from one, to three, to seven, and still no answer to even one, you had enough. It didn't help matters that Valentine's a day you never really celebrated truthfully, but now desired more than anything, was about to be upon you. If anything, that fact pushed you over the edge finally. 

You hadn't wanted to resort to it, but now felt as if you had no other choice. You would have to do this directly. 

Face to face. 

You didn't pick the best day to go for this, you realize. The wind, once merely just a bother while going about your day to day around the farm, now bites mercilessly at the uncovered skin of your cheeks. You pull your hat down further with one hand, and snap the reins again with the other. 

Besides the wind, it's snowing hard, covering the plains in a way you hadn't seen in years. Just your luck it seemed, that a blizzard like this would happen right at the worst possible time. But, you're too far out to turn back now, even if you're admittedly beginning to lose your way a little. 

You knew it was only a half day's ride between your ranch and theirs, so surely you must be close by now. But with all the snow, your field of vision is nothing but white. Which frightens you just a tinge. 

Your fright becomes genuine alarm when suddenly, Felicity spooks. Unprepared, the reins slip from your hands as she bucks, sending you flying into the snow. You land, face first into the powder, almost grateful for the softer than normal landing. But still, it knocks the wind from you, and you groan in pain as you lift your head just enough to see Felicity fade off into the distance. 

Out of either desperation or disbelief, or maybe even delusion, you start to laugh. Quietly. Not because there's anyone around to hear you but because you're in pain. 

A lot of it, actually. 

As you lie there you become increasingly aware of two things; the cold, and your ribs. 

The first of which is starting to seep in despite your many layers, and the second you think might be broken. 

What a grand situation you've put yourself in here. 

You find yourself with a lack of care however, perhaps because of the dire absurdity of it all. No one's coming to save you. No one even knows where you are. Well, Felicity does but she's long gone. 

You may very well die out here, you realize. All for a couple of cowboys you couldn't even say 'I love you' to. 

Your own fault, truly.

You close your eyes, face cold against and feel a pull for sleep in you that you know is dangerous. One that tempts you, so, alluringly so. 

But luck was on your side, as right when you feel yourself beginning to slip, there's a muffled noise out in the distance. A shout. 

Soon enough you can make out the sound of hoofsteps and then footsteps that rapidy approach you. 

Your body is suddenly hoisted up, the light blinding even against your eyelids. Whoever it was, you weighed nothing to them. 

You find out soon enough, based on voice alone. "Come on darlin', stay with me now."

It's a struggle, but you find your voice.

"Tryin' to, Lone Star." You wheeze out, cracking open an eye to see his worried face staring down at you. 

He presses a kiss to your forehead then, hissing once he feels how cold you are. "You're frozen solid. Just what were you thinkin'?"

Sun starts to walk back over to his horse, you bite your cheek to hide the agony it causes you. 

"I wasn't. It's called desperation—" You can't help but cry out as he shifts you to mount his horse, biting your tongue again after a moment and speak through gritted teeth. "Can't a poor rancher be with their loves on the most romantic day of the year? Or some sap horseshit like that. You get the point."

Sun's too busy examining your body for damages, poking and prodding until he makes his mark against one of your ribs and you hiss. "Save that for somewhere warmer, won't you? Bit too cold to get a peek under there don't you think?"

He tsks, shifting you hold you tight against him with one arm, using the other the grip the reins and start moving. "I think the cold's made you delirious, Sweetheart. Just hold on a little longer for me, yeah."

"I'll try."

You're only able to half register as Moon rides up to the two of you, concern plastered across his features. They speak to each other, but you can hardly listen. Now that you have a sense of safety surrounding you, that urge to fade in the black pulls at you stronger than ever, and you can't help but close your eyes. Though, the  jostling pain of your broken ribs keeps you from falling asleep entirely. 

Soon enough, you find yourself in a warm bed in the boss' house, despite your protests the bunkhouse would be fine. You're treated and fed and warmed from the moment you step in the door. Something you're not taking for granted. To make matters better, you learn the reason you were found was because of Felicity wandering near the outskirts of the ranch, thus confirming to you that she was okay after all. 

With that news, you crash, weight off your shoulders—and ribs—waking up some time much later. 

When you open your eyes, you spy two restless cowboys nearby. Sun sits with his hands clasped in a chair beside you, frown settled heavily on his face. Moon is on the end of the bed, eyes trained on your face and thus, the first to notice you were awake. 

"You sure know how to make an entrance, don't you Starlight?" His tone is a mixture of displeasure and relief. 

You chuckle, wincing a little as you sit up. Sun reaches out to stop you but you wave him off. "Ah, couldn't help myself, Moonshine. Figured I needed to get your attention somehow, since it's been lacking here lately."

"You really risked your life for something so simple?" Sun asks, taking hold on your hand in both his own, squeezing tight. "All of that?"

You shrug, though not very well. "I didn't say it was a good idea. But it all worked out in the end, didn't it?"

Moon huffs. "If you call ‘working out’ almost dying, sure." 

You lay back again a bit, looking up to the ceiling as a quiet settles over the three of you. 

"An explanation would be nice."

"Suppose that's fair." Sun says. "Moon can share."

A tsk. "Of course you'd put it on me..." He grumbles, then takes your other hand and you glance back down. "Long and short of it is, we got fired."

Your eyes widen and Sun lets out a long, disappointed, sigh. 

"We didn't get fired. But we did ask to quit. Move on to somewhere else. Boss asked us to find replacements before we left." Sun explains. 

This does little to comfort you. "Somewhere else? Can't stand it and have to put more distance between us, huh?" You can't fight the bite in your tone. 

But, they both chuckle at this. Moon shifts to lay on his stomach beside you, grin cheeky as he leans in close. "Closer actually. Much closer. Within walking distance. You might even say kissing distance."

Before you can get further confused, Sun juts in, halting any chance of Moon getting what he wants for the time being. 

"We'd like to come work for you. If you'll have us. No need to worry about payment or the likes, just a place to stay, your hand to hold." He nods once. "That's more than enough."

You're more than surprised, shocked even. "I, you mean it?"

"We haven't been great 'bout it, but we care a lot, darlin'. Let us prove that to you." Sun kisses your hand, looking up to you with a plea in his eye. 

Moon pulls your focus by taking his free hand and setting it on your cheek. "You look ready to cry, Sweet Thing."

"Truthfully, I just might." You swallow, shaking your head. "You two are somethin' you know that?"

He tuts, leaning in and kissing you softly. "We take pride in it."

"One of us does." Sun grumbles. 

A snicker from his counterpart. "How about you wait your turn in silence, Sunshine?"

"How about you,"—You feel a tug on your arm pulling you away—"Learn to play fair?"

If you weren't stunned from your previous kiss, or in so much pain, you might've interfered with there argument. But, with the combination of both, you're content to simply lay back and watch it go down. 

You're getting kissed by someone, someway eventually, and that's good enough for you.

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Thank you for the request @alynwrench! The cowboys are always a delight to write for, especially when I get to put them in SITUATIONS >:)c

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[sleepy-the-loz-enthusiast]

I had a dream where for some reason me and a variety of random people were trapped in a room together until a few people died, then a door opened. Upon leaving me and the person I left with (I think it might've been Striga from Castlevania?? My ass is so gay for her) were turned into origami chess pieces and put on a giant board in some kind of old mansion. We had to fight our way out but our bodies were still made of folded paper but we made it out somehow. Then we had to convince a bunch of old men that we were real people and not just paper decorations, and for some reason there was a weird thing where everyone there percieved people as different people to the person they actually were (confusing? Yep, I'm also confused)

Anyway, I'm not entirely sure what the meaning behind that dream is, it was wacky

Another thing is I think at some point I also hugged Striga which was nice (she's a buff lesbian vampire)

Oh, and it ended with us in a different room and I got to hold and pet fluffy, friendly cats

[astarion-obsessions]

I think not enough people understand that Astarion doesn't want you to be his main or only source of blood. This even stands in direct contrast to what he really wants to achieve with biting Tav. Let me explain.

Why Astarion doesn't want you to be his blood bag

Let me start with explaining how I approached this topic. First of all, when I triggered the bite scene in my playthrough, I obviously let Astarion drink from my Tav. But then I got curious. What happens when I don't stop him? He's said I could trust him just a moment ago, didn't he? So I did just that, I trusted him literally with my life. 

Aaaand... he killed me. Well. What did I expect from a vampire, really. But that he actually drained me dry broke my heart. I really wanted to trust him, to reach out and show him that I didn't judge him for what he was and so on. I was really disappointed in him and couldn't quite grasp why he would do this. Was it a conscious decision? Did he lose control? Surely he would apologise and explain everything to me once someone resurrected me, returning the trust I was giving him the night prior, right?... right?

Of course not. The dialogue after him killing Tav was... at least as disappointing as him killing Tav in the first place. He shows his usual attitude, apologises half-heartedly and then just keeps going on with talking about draining the occasional bandit. He even snaps when you mention the topic of him feeding after that with something like "I already apologised, what more do you want?".

There's no real regret, no emotions. He simply doesn't care.

We know that he didn't care in the beginning, he tells us as much when he confesses his unwanted, growing feelings towards Tav in act 2. But still the whole bite scene didn't sit right with me until…

The Nightmare 

I randomly stumbled upon a clip of Astarion having a nightmare, so I researched about it and even started an Astarion run to experience it myself. So, if you play as Astarion, at the second long rest of act 1 he has a nightmare about Cazador, in which he recites the rules that defined how Astarion and the other spawn had to live:

First, thou shalt not drink of the blood of thinking creatures. 

Second, thou shalt obey me in all things. 

Third, thou shalt not leave my side unless directed. 

Fourth, thou shalt know that thou art mine. 

However Astarion reacts to this dream, he jolts awake afterwards and instinctively panics that he needs to find a way back to his master as soon as possible. His eyes set on his companions, who are sleeping / meditating peacefully around the fire, and then a thought passes his mind.

He could try to break one of Cazador's rules right then and there. He's able to stand in the sun, to bathe in running water, so maybe…

And that's why he decides to bite a companion. Astarion wakes up utterly terrified of what his master will do to him if he doesn't return to him in an instant - and he knows all too well what kind of horrors would await him if he so much as dares to think about rebelling again (read about that here) - so he is in desperate need of confirmation that he is now able to withstand and actively break the rules that have dominated his life for two centuries.

He needs to know that he is able to drink the blood of a thinking creature. And there they are. His clueless companions served on a silver platter. It's like an invitation to him, to test his boundaries. And who would be more fitting than the good hearted leader of the party Astarion wanted to (or already has) seduce(d) anyway?

This piece of information shed a whole new light on the bite scene. But let's look a bit closer at that. 

The Bite Night 

The very first thing Tav registers about what's going on with Astarion that night is him baring his fangs right above us, about to sink them into our flesh. He pulls back as soon as we open our eyes, retreating immediately until there's a safe distance between him and Tav. 

This may be the first time Tav gets to know that Astarion is a vampire, so he gets defensive and tells us that he's never killed a person for food, only animals. But then, instead of letting the idea of feeding on Tav go, he insists that animals aren't enough. 

But it's not enough. Not if I have to fight. I feel so weak. 

If I just had a little blood, I could think clearer. Fight better. Please. 

Then he goes on, literally pleading to get what he wants while putting on a sad expression in the end, even averting his gaze. 

And if we now have in mind that he just woke up from a nightmare about Cazador, feeling powerless and in desperate need of even a glimpse of hope that he might escape Cazador's cruel grip, his lines make a lot of sense. He's veiling the truth, of course, but not all of what he says is a lie. 

He indeed feels weak - powerless in fact - so drinking Tav's blood (the blood of a thinking creature) could prove that he may have regained a bit of power over himself, which had been exclusively reserved for Cazador the last 200 years. This would absolutely make him feel stronger, more confident than he's felt for a long, long time. 

And he indeed could think clearer after tasting Tav's blood, because this would bring clarity to the question if he is now able to break Cazador's rules on purpose and therefore give him information to work with when he needs to think about what to do next. 

Right after this, we get the chance to push into Astarion's mind, and if we do this, we can see what he thinks about. 

His mind opens up, revealing cracked and quivering memories. At their heart, you see dark eyes, commanding you to feed. 

You open your mouth and bite down. Not into a tender neck, but in the twisting body of a rat - the only thing your master lets you eat. 

He recalls the memory of how his master used to force him to eat disgusting vermin. As his memory is told, we can clearly see how deeply this affects him, for he can't keep up his walls of defensiveness and detachment. They just crack, crumble and reveal his misery clearly for Tav to observe. When we ask him about it directly afterwards, he first seems to search for a way out - a witty remark, anything - but gives up almost immediately. And he looks and sounds just completely defeated and tired, confirming what Tav just saw in his mind. 

He goes on with talking about trust. I think here he's seeing a chance to gain Tav's sympathy. If he already reveals such delicate information about his past, he can as well make use of it. So he appeals to Tav's understanding, offering us that this past is the reason for him only trusting Tav slowly. But then he immediately adds that now he trusts Tav, and that in return Tav can trust him, too. 

What he does here is displaying himself as pitiful, gaining Tav's sympathy, then seemingly going out of his way and saying that despite all he does trust Tav, which puts Tav in the position to follow suit with returning the trust… which Astarion definitely lied about on his part. But that's what he does. Manipulating. 

If we then respond with "You tried to bite me. How can I trust you?" instead of assuring us of his trustworthiness with more manipulation, he gets frustrated. 

Because we don't have a choice! Not if we're going to save ourselves from these worms. 

But he goes on with masking his reasons, even if he gave us a hint right in the beginning of act 1 when we picked him up, where he said that he would rather control the tadpole instead of removing it. If we play as Astarion, it gets clear pretty fast that he holds onto the tadpole, because it seems to be the only thing that had been able to "save" him from Cazador whilst no one and nothing else even attempted to help him for two centuries. Of course he would not want to get rid of the tadpole just like that. But he says so nonetheless to align with Tav's goals and display himself as useful. 

And then he does something interesting. 

I need you alive. You need me strong. 

Please. Only be a taste, I swear. I'll be well, you'll be fine, and everything can go back to normal. 

In the beginning of this conversation he mentioned he needed the blood to fight better. Now he takes up on this by saying that Tav needs him strong, hinting on him getting stronger after having a taste of Tav's blood. And then he promises that after this "everything can go back to normal", which right now means Astarion feeding on animals again. 

A few things about this are odd. 

Firstly, "only be a taste". Everyone, literally everyone has heard about the insatiable hunger of vampires. So how is it supposed to work that Astarion gets stronger from just a taste of Tav's blood? For how long? A few hours? Not nearly long enough to pose a real advantage, eh? For me this makes no sense. And if we think about his true intentions - wanting to find out if he can break Cazador's rule - just a taste would be absolutely enough. (And after he bites Tav without killing them, he even says that he needs something more filling!) 

Secondly, if Astarion really wanted to become stronger with the help of Tav's blood, why would he promise to go back to normal afterwards? He just offered Tav a stronger companion but then immediately nullified this argument by literally saying that this will be a one time arrangement. 

Thirdly, he subtly offers a bargain. "You give me your blood, I will be a stronger fighter for you." He did so in the beginning as well, repeating it with different words. And it fits his character very well to do so, because for all he knows everything comes with a price. He almost gets beaten to death and Cazador mercifully comes to his rescue? The price is a never ending life of torment and abuse. Astarion helps a potential victim for Cazador to flee? The price is a year of starvation, locked up in a dusty and dark tomb without knowing if it will ever find an end. Mindflayers rescued him from Cazador, (passively) granting him to possibly be free of him at last? The price is becoming a tentacled monster in the end. 

If we then allow him to bite us, he's visibly surprised about our graciousness, but of course doesn't let this chance slip and suggests getting comfortable instantly. Then he finally gets to sink his teeth into Tav's neck. This part of the scene can more or less be viewed from both sides - Astarion's and Tav's. 

He begins to feed on Tav and after a bit we can decide to interrupt him, but have to pass an ability check first. This repeats a second time when playing Tav, and even if it's only one AC when we play Astarion and decide to bite a companion, it still aligns, showing that Astarion seemingly loses himself in the taste of Tav's blood - which is very likely because (as he later tells us) we were the first humanoid he's ever fed on, so it's imaginable that Tav's blood must be tasting almost divine to him. 

This theory is supported by his actions after we fail the first AC or just let him continue. He grabs the back of Tav's head to pull them towards himself, emphasising on how greedy he is sucking the blood out of Tav. The camera even uses the exact same angles before failing or skipping the first AC and after, so the comparison is easy and the difference is clear:

If we then fail or skip the next AC, Astarion just drains us dry… And it gets even better after the bite night. 

The Morning After 

When Tav gets revived and then talks to Astarion, he is visibly surprised to see us, after he left the dead body of Tav behind with saying "Oh no, something terrible has happened". Sure Astarion, something… 

All of this happens when Astarion still doesn't care for Tav. He reacts with panic when we confront him with the fact that he literally killed us, and just manages to get his expression under control after a few seconds. I mean, just look at him:

'Killed' feels like a strong word. Not many corpses have your vigour. 

He definitely knows what he's done, and that 'killed' is indeed the right word for it, he is just very very bad at coping with guilt (which is amazingly analysed by thelikesoffinn - definitely read this, you'll understand Astarion so much better after this). 

He instantly lays the focus on our codependency again, that we need each other and so on. If we question why we should keep him around, he answers with:

A strong, well-fed vampire? I'm a powerful weapon - you'd be a fool to toss me aside now. 

With mentioning this, he wants to make sure that Tav will let him stay by their side and therefore grant him protection. 

But more importantly he continues:

Anyway, last night was an aberration. It will never happen again. 

He doesn't even start with something like "Next time I'll be more careful" or anything similar. He straight up says that it will never happen again. Period. If we then ask who he will feed on next time he gets hungry, he presents the idea of feeding on villains and bandits "who need killing anyway". And this is exactly what he wants. This even shows in his reaction to Tav's response to his suggestion.

If we agree and therefore allow him to feed on our enemies ("Sounds good. Glad we could agree"), this is how he reacts:

As am I. I'm starting to feel a little peckish already. 

This itself doesn't sound all too enthusiastic, but we get his approval up, which definitely shows that he very much likes that Tav agreed. 

On the contrary, if we suggest he can feed on Tav, ignoring his will wish to feed on villains ("Look, I'm not against you feeding on me, but only if we talk about it first"), this is his reaction:

Of course! This sounds eminently reasonable. 

I shall wait patiently until you suggest we… dine together. 

Doesn't sound too bad either, eh? But we don't get his approval. He doesn't disapprove, of course, because this is still a thousand times better than what he had until then, but still not what he really wants… 

So, what does all of this mean for the initial question? 

Conclusion 

The crucial point here is what it means for Astarion to feed on Tav. The only things he remembers since Cazador turned him, are being relentlessly dominated and horrifyingly abused. The things Astarion wants the most are to be safe and to finally have control over himself again. 

He bit Tav for the sole purpose of finding out if he can be free of Cazador's rules. So why would he jump right into being dependent on Tav? He suggests to feed on villains, because then he is free of anyone's mercy. He doesn't need to rely on Tav to graciously allow him to get a drop of blood. He can do this himself now. 

This is such an important step for his character growth, to find the way to his autonomy again, so if we only allow him to feed on Tav, it instantly sets him back into old habits of bowing to his masters words - or in this case Tav's. Because it's all hes been doing for the last two centuries of his life. 

So, as much as the thought of the self-sacrificing offer to be his personal blood bag may seem romantic or whatever, it's actually the exact opposite, trapping Astarion in what he desperately tries to escape from. The restrictions that come with someone dominating him mentally and physically. And as I mentioned earlier, he doesn't believe in the goodness of people. For him every "kind" act has a price and he likes to know what he has to pay, so he wouldn't even want to just drink Tav's blood without Tav getting anything out of it. He would most certainly expect Tav one day to come around with something he doesn't want to give or do, so he wants to control such situations beforehand. 

All he wants is to make his own decisions and be free in every way possible… 

So please just let him drain some bandits, will ya? 

[xmads-omensx]

Once Upon A Dream

Masterlist

Word Count: 2,781

Pairing: Noah Sebastian X Reader

Content Warnings: fluff, wearing, kissing, mentions of a slight fear of rollercoasters and mild anxiety

Summary: Noah takes Y/N to Disney for their anniversary... except they can't quite get rid of the rest of the guys

Thanks @tosoundlessdarkistare for the idea <3

I have also never been to Disney Land before so please be aware that there will be inaccuracies.

I had always wanted to go to Disney, ever since I was a kid, but I had never had the chance to go. It was always too expensive when I was younger, and by the time we could afford it, I had pretty much outgrown it.

Part of me still wanted to go, but with balancing work and spending time with Noah when he wasn’t on tour, it was hard to find the time to visit with enough time to do everything that I wanted to do.

This wasn’t something I had told Noah outright. It wasn’t exactly something I openly told people. The circle of people I surrounded myself with were, much like Noah, intimidating metalheads covered in tattoos who would have absolutely no business being in Disneyland. The mental image made me laugh.

One day, I had some time between meetings. I was working from home that day, so I didn’t really have anything to do in this particular thirty minute gap, so I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to have a glance at prices for a hypothetical trip to Disneyland. My very surface-level research confirmed the astronomical prices for tickets, and did not factor in accommodation, snacks, souvenirs or a second person to join me on the trip.

I promptly gave up on my side-quest and went back to my meeting, feeling ever so slightly defeated at my lack of accomplishment.

The rest of the day felt heavier. It wasn’t like I desperately wanted to do, but more so something the small child within me yearned for. Plenty of kids my age, friends included all got to experience the joys of Disney, but I never quite reached that.

Crawling into bed after dinner felt nice. Especially with Noah wrapped around me.

“How was your day?” He asked softly.

“Not bad. Work was a bit boring, as usual.” I laughed into his chest, making him laugh as well.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t around much today. We were making real progress in the studio.” He said softly, a twinge of regret in his voice.

“It’s okay. I’m glad you’re making progress, honey.” I replied, snuggling further into his chest.

“Me too.” He kissed the top of my head. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” I drifted off to sleep easily. I always did with Noah there.

The next day I woke up to an empty bed. I didn’t like waking up alone. I looked around the room but couldn’t see Noah anywhere. The bathroom was empty and it was only 9:45am, so he shouldn’t be at the studio just yet.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and left our shared bedroom. My office was down the hall and the light was on. Weird. I was sure I had turned it off when you finished work yesterday.

Walking closer to the slightly ajar door, I started to hear voices coming from inside. Noah? Matt? Jolly? Why were they in my office?

I lightly pushed the door open and they hurriedly stopped their conversation. Noah had a look that was equally suspicious as it was guilty.

“What are you guys doing in here?” I asked sleepily, rubbing my eye.

“Nothing really, just chilling.” Noah said, trying to act calm but ultimately failing.

“In my office?” I asked sceptically.

The guys looked between eachother as I just stared at them. From an outside perspective, it must have looked like a mildly disappointed mother scolding her three sons.

“You better take this one man, it was your idea.” Matt said, clapping Noah on his back, making Jolly laugh.

Noah sighed before speaking. “So, you know how our anniversary is coming up soon?”

“Yeah.” I said, a small smile appearing on my face, as it did every time someone mentioned our anniversary

“I thought maybe we could go on a little trip, instead of just going on a nice date or something.” He said quietly, with a small smile on his face.

“A trip where?” I asked, excited.

“That’s a surprise.” Noah replied.

“Disney Land!” Matt and Jolly exclaimed at the same time Noah was speaking.

“Are you both fucking kidding me!” Noah shouted, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration.

Matt and Jolly laughed at his outburst, hurriedly escaping the room to avoid Noah’s anger as well as the pillow he had picked up to throw at them.

I just watched, laughing at them.

“I’m sorry baby, it was supposed to be a surprise.” He mumbled, looking down at the ground in defeat.

“Hey.” He looked up at me when I began to speak. “It’s okay. I’m looking forward to it.”

He smiled softly and pulled me into his lap, placing a kiss on my cheek. “Good morning beautiful.” He said softly.

“Morning handsome.” I giggled.

We stayed like that for another few moments before deciding to go and get ready for the day.

The rest of the week rolled around quickly as Noah and I’s anniversary approached. We had packed for three days at Disney Land and were eagerly awaiting our trip to roll around.

After what felt like eternity, the time had arrived for us to begin our journey to Disney Land. Luckily, we didn’t live too far away, so we could drive there and back relatively easily, but we still booked a hotel to make out lives easier.

Moving our bags by the front door, Noah began loading up his car. Since it was our anniversary, he wasn’t letting me help him with anything, which frustrated me, but seeing as he was significantly taller than me and could lift me up like it was nothing, there wasn’t much point trying to help him.

“Noah come on. Let me help.” I had argued.

“Nope.” He simply replied.

“Noah ju-“ I started before he interrupted me.

“I said nope.” He looked at me with a jokingly stern expression.

I had sighed, giving up.

Once the car had been packed, Noah clapped his hands together, proud of himself, and we began to make our way to his car.

Before we could even open the door, a small commotion from inside the house made us pause, before what can only be described as a gaggle of arguing men poured out the front door carrying bags with them.

Nick, Folio, Jolly, Matt, Bryan and Steven now all stood on our driveway looking mildly sheepish.

“Where are you guys going?” Noah asked with a suspicious tone, nervously eyeing the bags they each carried along with them.

“So, we may or may not have booked tickets to go with you guys to Disney Land.” Folio said sheepishly.

“Out anniversary trip to Disney Land?” Noah asked, still eyeing them all suspiciously.

The rest of the guys had a guilty look on their faces. “We’ll stay out of your way, we just liked the idea.” Nick added, trying to lessen their guilt.

“You fucking better.” Noah huffed before getting into the drivers seat of his car.

“See you guys later I guess.” I laughed before climbing in the passenger seat.

Noah sighed before starting the car and pulling out of the driveway. He remained quiet for the first ten minutes of the drive, which was unlike him. He usually asked for a specific playlist, or talked about our plans for the day.

“Are you okay babe?” I asked, placing my hand on his knee and squeezing it affectionately.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He sighed. “I just wanted to take you somewhere special for a break away from the others. You know? Just us.”

“And whilst that is a very nice idea babe, we both know that neither of us will ever escape those guys.” I laughed.

“Yeah you’re right.” Noah sighed, a weak smile appearing on his face.

“I have a nasty habit of doing that.” I smirked at him.

“shut up. Put some music on babe, you’re choice.” Noah laughed.

“Okay.” I giggled, queuing up my musical theatre playlist, which I knew Noah secretly liked, despite stating that he hated it several times.

The entire drive there I performed every single song, which was probably why Noah constantly protested the playlist every time. I more or less made a mockery of his job.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we unloaded Noah’s car and brought our things up to the hotel room, which wasn’t fancy in the slightest, but did the job for four nights. The guys had booked rooms in the same hotel, but luckily not on the same floor as Noah and I, so we still got some peace and quiet away from them.

Dinner time rolled around and Noah took me out for a very nice, quiet, romantic meal for our anniversary, as had become tradition between the two of us over the last few years.

The morning sunshine lit up our hotel room and aroused me from my sleep, Noah still lay beside me snoring contently away. As much as I hated to wake him, I knew that we probably had to leave soon to avoid the rush at the entrance. I gently brushed the stray hairs off of his face, before placing gentle kisses all over his cheeks, making him stir and his eyes flutter open.

A soft smile appeared on his face. “Hey beautiful.” He groaned.

“Hi baby.” I replied, kissing his forehead.

He wrapped his long, strong arms around my waist, trying to pull me back into bed, but I resisted. “Noah, baby, as much as I would love to hide in bed all day with you, we need to beat the rush and the rest of the guys.”

Noah groaned and buried his face in the pillow.

“This was your idea honey.” I laughed, shaking his shoulder gently, making him roll over and face me again.

“I know.” He sighed before climbing out of bed and dragging me into the bathroom behind him.

After we were showered, dressed and I had done my hair and makeup, it was time to go. We planned on grabbing some breakfast at the park as well as lunch, and just seeing how we felt for dinner.

The drive over there was short and we got parked relatively easily, despite our parking being far to the back of the car park.

We collected our wristbands and entered the park. Neither Noah or myself especially liked rollercoasters, but we were both determined to try at least one before our trip was over.

“Hey! Y/N! Noah!” A voice called from behind us.

Turning around, we saw Jolly towering over the rest of the crowd and waving at us. Noah sighed before waving back at him.

“I guess we aren’t getting our trip for just us two after all.” He groaned.

“Don’t worry about it. We still have our hotel room to ourselves and we can go out and have dinner just us two. It’s all going to be fine, Noah.” I comforted him, squeezing his hand affectionately.

The rest of the guys all crowded around us, shouting out different things that they wanted to do and explore. Most of the guys wanted to try the Guardians of the Galaxy ride, whilst Noah and I were more hesitant. “Maybe we should just say fuck it and try it out.” I murmured to him.

“Babe, if I’m being honest, that sounds like hell to me.” He laughed in reply.

“I think I’ll try it.” I said confidently. “How bad can it be?”

Noah laughed at that. “Sure.”

“No really. I’m going to do it.” I replied confidently. I was determined to prove to him that I could do it, no matter what.

“Fine. If you do it, I’ll buy you as many churros as you want.” He replied.

“Okay. And what do you get?” I asked

“Oh babe, there is no way in hell I’m doing that.” He laughed, pulling me into his side.

I really loved churros, but was the price I would have to pay worth it? Yes.

We decided as a group to head there first and beat the crowds. Queuing took no time at all and we sat down in our seats. Steven and Noah stayed back holding our bags, whilst the rest of us went on together.

I was sandwiched in between Matt and Jolly, gripping both their hands tightly. My heart raced inside my chest as the attendant came over and lowered the security bar, securing us in place.

“You good?” Matt asked.

I just nodded my head.

He laughed in reply. “It’ll be over before you’ve even realised it’s started.”

I nodded again. Having Matt and Jolly beside me helped calm my nerves ever so slightly.

Suddenly, the ride jolted forward and we were off. Music flooded into my ears, but I couldn’t make out what songs they were playing. All I knew was that it was cheesy 80s hits that I presumed were in the movie. The cart flew along the tracks quickly, taking the air out of my lungs. But it wasn’t fear that I was feeling. It was joy. Pure joy.

I laughed and screamed alongside the rest of the people on the ride. Who knew something like this could be so much fun?

Like Matt had said, it was over before I knew it and the ride pulled to a stop.

My legs felt like spaghetti as I stood up after dismounting the ride. I laughed and clung onto Matt as we walked back to Noah and Steven who were sat on a bench nearby eating something that looked like… a turkey leg?

“Have fun guys?” Steven called out to us. We erupted in various replies of “yes”, “holy shit” and “fuck yeah” as we rejoined them.

“Have fun babe?” Noah asked as he put an arm around my shoulder.

“Yeah, I did actually.” I replied with a wide grin. “It was way more fun than I expected.”

“That’s great babe.” He laughed.

“What the fuck are you eating?” I asked.

“Oh this?” He held up what I thought might be a turkey leg, and ripped a chunk off of it with his teeth, before chewing aggressively. “It’s turkey.” He said with his mouth still full.

I turned away from him with a grimace, making the other guys laugh.

The rest of our day was filled with countless more rides, as Noah now couldn’t keep me off of them, and stupid group photos, obviously pulling weird faces and poses. Keeping up his end of the bargain, like a true gentleman, Noah bought me as many churros as I wanted. In fact, he kept it up for the rest of our stay at Disney Land, which filled me with immense joy.

On our last day, Noah said he had a surprise for me. The guys had shared a knowing look before leaving us to it and heading back to the hotel for the night.

Noah took my hand and guided me to a quiet spot near a restaurant that was on a slight hill and gave us a brilliant view of the Sleeping Beauty castle, whilst being completely out of sight from the crowd.

“What’s going on Noah?” I asked with a laugh.

“Nothing, just wanna show you something.” He replied with a smile.

I gave him a suspicious look before returning my gaze back to the castle.

“I guess I just wanted to say that I love you, and I’m glad we did this trip.” He said after a long pause.

“I love you too.” I said, squeezing his hand. “I’m glad we did this too, even though it’s a bit out of your comfort zone.”

“You got that right.” He laughed.

“Well I do tend to-“ I started.

“Don’t you dare say you’re always right.” He laughed, shoving me playfully.

“Well, I am.” I repied.

“Shush.” He pulled me into his side.

“Why did you even suggest Disney Land?” I asked, looking up at him.

“You never got to go as a kid, and it’s pretty much right on our doorstep.” He replied.

“You remembered that?” I asked, surprised.

“Well, duh. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t.” he laughed, kissing the top of my head.

We stood there in silence as the fireworks started, I leaned back into Noah’s chest as he began to gently sway us back and forth to the music that was playing.

“I love you.” He muttered into my hair.

“I love you more.” I whispered back

“Not possible.” Noah replied softly.

He began humming along to the song, his chest vibrating behind my back as the fireworks illuminated the night sky.

So this is what having a soulmate feels like? Like living in a dream that never ends.

[klonnieshippersclub]

For Your Eyes Only

Have you been craving a little spice? This is my attempt to bring the heat. It's quite a bit longer than the drabble of yesterday. Klaus' wet dreams are surprising to both of them. Let me know what you think!

Upon entering the Mystic Grill, Klaus shoved a server or two out of the way as he marched toward the Bennett witch. He had enough of her magical tricks. Was it a curse or a hex? He was unable to sleep without her influence overwhelming his senses. It all felt too real, and the disappointment of waking up to reality felt like a punishment. He'd demand Bonnie fix this.

“Where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere.”

Bonnie looked up from her math textbook and immediately wanted to scream. She felt his presence from the moment he entered the building. She was planning a peaceful evening of studying while munching on fries. The Original just had to show up and ruin things. 

“There are only so many places to be in town,” Bonnie deadpanned. “You couldn't have been looking too hard.”

Klaus removes his jacket and sits in the booth, across from her. “Don't taunt me, witch,” he sneered while reaching for the silverware on the table. “I know what you've been doing, and I never thought you'd be so naughty.”

“Naughty? What are you talking about?”

“Do not play coy with me, witch.”

“I'm not playing anything with you.”

He gripped the steak knife and casually pointed it in her direction. “Admit it. You like to fight dirty.”

She exasperatedly said, “Yes, I am a very dirty fighter.”

Part of her wanted to leap over the table and choke him out. Luckily for Klaus, she was too well-mannered to start a fight in public. This discussion seemed pointless as he neglected to give her a legitimate reason for interrupting her alone time. 

“Cute,” he gibed. “If you wanted to see me, all you had to do was ask.”

“Only in your dreams, Klaus.”

Something in the air shifted, and Klaus froze. His body was as stiff as a board. Her response sounded like a confession to him.  

Klaus scoffed, “I wonder if your classmates know what a tease you are.”

“Excuse me?” Bonnie's gaze sharpened on his smug face as her voice raised

The witch was feigning innocence, but he wouldn't be fooled. She couldn't trick him by pretending she had no involvement in all that had been haunting his dreams. Even awake, his thoughts will wander to the forbidden fantasies. 

“Stop the mind games or there will be consequences,” groaned Klaus. “You wouldn't want every customer here to be decapitated.”

“Calm down,” she commanded. “I'll stop whatever it is you think I'm doing.”

“Your mental warfare was unexpected, but a pleasant surprise and it cannot continue.”

“If you say so. I'm going home to research whatever magic is bothering you.”

“You do that, witch,” sassed Klaus with authority. “You've driven me crazy.”

Once she returned home, Bonnie put aside her aggravation to focus on finding a solution to Klaus’ problems. It was absurd that she was being blamed for a spell she didn't place on him. Technically, Bonnie didn't intentionally spell him in a way that would impact his dreams. It wasn't outside the realm of possibilities that the dreams could be a side effect of one of her spells. Despite her power, Bonnie knew she was a novice witch. She could've made a mistake that caused this, but she doubted it. Some other witch is likely responsible, and now Bonnie must clean up their mess.

After a few hours of searching, Bonnie found the spell she needed in Emily's grimoire. She couldn't end his dreams without seeing the dream. Though this was technically an invasion of privacy, Bonnie didn't care as it was Klaus’ assumption she had sent the dreams to him in the first place. With her psychic abilities, entering his dreams would be easier for Bonnie than any other witch. She dressed in her flannel pajamas before whipping up the potion she needed and whispering the magic words.

Bonnie laid on her bed, closed her eyes, and was instantly transported elsewhere. The trees looked familiar to her and she could hear water rushing nearby. Was this the woods by the falls? Suddenly, there was a groan in the distance. Klaus. The Bennett witch moved towards the sound in a hurry and stopped, in her tracks when she reached him.

Klaus was leaning against a tree. In front of him was a scantily clad version of herself. Bonnie did a double-take at the sight of her doppelganger. Eyes. Nose. Lips. This woman shared her face, but she was nothing like her. Bonnie would never be dancing for Klaus or strut around only wearing flowers

“You are so ravishing and mystifying that it tortures me,” murmured Klaus, looking more dazed than Bonnie had ever seen. 

Bonnie’s sensual copy giggled and twirled her hips as she moved closer to him. “I love you and I always have.”

His hands moved towards her ass and then to his belt buckle as he started to undo his pants.  “You love everything I do to you.”

The duplicate grinned and leaned closer to whisper in his ear. Before she could verbalize an answer, the copy vanished. Klaus was left staring at nothing. 

He could still smell his dream girl, but she was gone. He turned and found the Bennett witch near a bush in clothes far more modest than she normally would wear in his dreams. “What-” 

“Oh god,” breathed Bonnie. He recognized this as the Bonnie he spoke to earlier, not the one in his dreams. His dream girl would not be backing away from him as Bonnie did.

“Where did she go?” he questioned angrily. “What did you do?”

“I don't know. I didn't do anything.”

“Undo it.”

“You asked me to end the dreams,” spat Bonnie as she threw her hands up.

“I didn't ask you to spy on me.”

“I'll have you know, I sense no magic here.”

“Lies, you saw her,” accused Klaus as he stomped towards the witch. “She usually dances till the petals fall.”

“These dreams aren't of my making,” snapped Bonnie. “They're from your own perversion!’

“Hmm, I guess you'll have to take her place then.”

“WHAT?”

Klaus brushed her hair out of her face, admiring her features, and declared, “I never run from what I want, and I can smell your arousal.”

Bonnie’s outfit shifted from her regular pajamas to the flower petal outfit of her copy. The flowers were a mix of oranges, yellows, and reds. It barely covered her breasts, and the bottoms were fitted like a thong. Klaus’ mouth watered at the change. Yes, he loved his dreams with the sexy nymph who would do whatever he wanted, but Bonnie was the real witch. She had curves that the version in his dreams did not. His imagination was unaware of the body Bonnie hid under oversized clothes.

Klaus was sure Bonnie would bestow a spell on him and end his dirty fantasy. Instead, she smirked and laid a kiss on Klaus’ lips. “If you want me, you have to catch me,” then Bonnie had taken off running.

Bonnie did jog frequently and was confident in her stamina. Even before her life as a witch, she wasn’t fearful of the forest and knew there was a cabin nearby. If this dream mimicked Mystic Falls, then there should be no changes in other spaces. She could hear the branches breaking as Klaus chased behind her. Naturally, Bonnie created a diversion by knocking over some trees with her magic. 

With Klaus busy wrestling some trees, Bonnie ran inside the cabin from her memories and locked the doors. The cabin was clean, but she was pissed she couldn’t find a proper change of clothes. Her moment of solitude was short as Klaus slammed open the door, with a ravenous gleam in his eyes. 

“You found me, what a surprise,” Bonnie joked while she watched Klaus make his way over to her. “Now what are you going to do?” 

Klaus lifted Bonnie and carried her to a spare bedroom. He kissed and nibbled on her full thighs. Bonnie squealed and encouraged Klaus to continue fueling her curiosity. 

“Your scent is divine,” Klaus praised while he toyed with the flowers that covered her labia.

He tugged at the thin material, tearing the flowers off Bonnie. She parted her legs, and Klaus kissed her sensitive flesh. Klaus gripped her thighs and tugged her closer to prevent her from moving. While Klaus licked and sucked, Bonnie shifted against his mouth. A proper push and pull. Klaus’ movements weren’t light, at least not with his tongue and fingers working on her. All Bonnie knew was endless moans of Klaus’ name. 

“That’s right, Bonnie, do say my name and remember who did this,” Klaus encouraged, lifting his head for only one moment.

Bonnie’s eyes were shut. Her movements against the hybrid's mouth quickened, as did his sampling of her feminine nectar, and she felt the rush of pleasure leave her body. 

Bonnie blinked too hard, and the dream was over. It was her first orgasm. She never had been touched and had been too shy to explore her own body. The intensity must have shaken her awake. She needed a cold shower. Or a vibrator.

As she tried to catch her breath, she looked at her nightstand where her phone chirped with a text message. She unlocked her phone and sighed upon seeing the sender. Her hybrid wrote, “We’ll continue that later.”

[zaffiri-saffici]

I haven't reviewed my outline or plotting for the potential sequel to Undone in quite some time, but I decided today was a good day to do it, and, my gods, I forgot how elaborate the lore for my lore got for this tale. I even wrote out an origin story essay just for the Greek primordial beings who will have character roles so I could understand their motivations and try to explain the origins of magic in the OUAT universe. And, before you ask, you must know that it wasn't me who introduced Greek ideas into this tale. Blame A&E for opening up that can of worms when they called attention to the Flame of Prometheus in a season about Camelot and Dark Ones. There's a lot that needs to be fixed in canon. Surprise, surprise!

I'm excited by the idea of tackling this monster again one day, but also the scale of it overwhelms me a bit. And then I reread some of my text from Undone and the conflicts and arcs I address there and get a little confidence boost because, yeah, I did that. It's me. I wrote that. I did it once, I can (maybe) do it again!

So, to motivate me, I'm just going to use this post as a means to start tracking my progress with it and sharing some cool little tidbits, quotes, drafts, etc, because it will be helpful for me, and also, this is a fandom website, and I know there are others who will appreciate it who have loved that story and are excited to see where it goes.

*SPOILERS BELOW, YOU'RE WARNED*

Unwanted (sequel to Undone) will, at the current moment, begin with an unnamed and very vague dream Emma continues to suffer from, with words similar to the below staying with her even after she wakes:

Oh, my love, how I dream of you. How I grant sons and daughters life so that they may grant me the power to look upon your face once more. If only for one final time. Yet, I remain empty.

Instead of comparing Merlin/Nimue's relationship to Emma/Regina's, as I did in Undone, Unwanted will partly explore La douleur exquise, but between primordial beings and how this led to magic finding its way in the Enchanted Forest and other mystical realms. (If you go back and read Undone, you'll probably see some hints and clues I left to leave it open enough so that I could write a sequel if I wanted to, or, if I decided to leave it as it was, the story would feel complete enough that you wouldn't necessarily need more to feel fulfilled.)

Oh, and Emma and Regina are still together, of course, but this wouldn't be a SQ fic without a bit of drama and angst, right?

It's ~7 years in the future, and Emma still hasn't proposed (girl has some issues to deal with after the traumatic experience that was being the Dark One, ok?). And I have this little scene plotted out where they're fighting some godly force while also fighting about the details of their wedding, which I still giggle at:

"I thought you hated the idea of red plate chargers?!" "It's not the color, Regina! It's about principle! Why should I dish out an extra $7 a person on a Sheriff's salary?! They're never used!" *fireballs flying, gays a-gaying, world feels like it's ending, magic magic-ing, etc, etc* "I bumped your department budget two years in a row! It's not my fault you forgot to give yourself a raise! And it's extra because it looks pretty. Who cares?" "My wallet cares!"

Ladies. Ahem, ladies? Sorry to disappoint. You're already married.

Unfortunately, the OUAT writers combined Arthurian legend with Ancient Greek Mythology, so we’re just going to milk that fuck fest and run with it! For the purpose of this tale and the continuation of the Undone universe, the Grail aka Excalibur is considered an ancient relic of the gods of Olympus. Assume everything else also makes sense from a mythological standpoint!

But whyyyyy Felicia?

Shhh…. It’s okay. Just don’t think too hard about it. 

If you thought the OUaT family tree was fucked up, just wait till you get to Greece.

We’re opening Pandora’s Box. (uh, literally. you'll see what I mean eventually)

And here's a snapshot of the lore while I'm at it! Zoomed wayyyyy tf out because I don't want to spoil too much for y'all, but I also want to demonstrate what I mean about my lore having lore, and as I answer more questions, new questions pop up. What a time!

Anyway, thanks for sticking around this long while I ramble about this little project.

[aquagirl1978]

Beautiful Dreams - Gilbert von Obsidian x Reader (Ikemen Prince)

Pairing: Gilbert von Obsidian x Reader

Prompt: inspired by his wedding gacha card

Tags: fluff

The dream you had just awoken from replayed itself over and over again in your head as you rolled over in bed, bringing a small smile to your lips; propping yourself on your elbow and resting your chin in the palm of your hand, you gazed lovingly at the man sleeping soundly beside you, the subject of your dream and reason why you awoke. 

I’m going to marry Gilbert tomorrow, you told yourself, unable to control the grin that spread on your lips. You reached out a tentative hand – it hovered over his shoulder for a moment, the need to feel his skin against yours overwhelming.

No. Just because you couldn’t sleep didn’t mean you should wake him. 

But before you could withdraw your hand, Gilbert cracked open an eye and gazed at you, his single eye shining like a glittering gemstone in the darkness of night. Before you even registered that he was awake, his hand darted up and grabbed your wrist in an iron vice. With a quick flick, he had you on top of him, your legs straddling him.

He dragged his palms down your sides, his hands slowly caressing the soft curve of your belly, a pleased smile carved on his lips as his fingers traced the outlines of the many, many marks he had left. Your body filled with tingles as if his touch was electric.

Gilbert sat up and cupped your face in his palms; face to face, you were close enough to kiss. You inched closer, wanting to feel his lips on yours. A cool chill brushed your lips in a featherlight kiss; chaste and quick, Gilbert smiled at you.

“Tomorrow’s a big day, you should rest.” His voice was light and teasing as he guided your body to lie next to him, your head resting on his chest. Hiding your disappointment, you knew he was right. Gilbert wrapped an arm around your body, holding you close to him as the soothing sound of his heartbeat lulled you back to sleep.

******

The ballroom in Obsidian Castle was a dark and empty space; no longer home to balls or celebrations, it came as no surprise to find the room vacant.

Even tonight, the night of your wedding.

Gilbert pushed open the door, extending an arm inviting you in. You placed your hand in his, your matching rings shining in the moonlight, and stepped into the empty space.

It was Gilbert’s wish to marry in private; Obsidian did not host lavish balls, so there was no need to start now. It was a quiet ceremony, the only other in attendance was the officiant who married you. Upon your return home, Gilbert twined his fingers in yours as you made

You were surprised when Gilbert led you to the ballroom – you had thought the first place he would want to go would be your bedroom. Unsure what he had in mind, you watched as he followed you into the room.

He stopped when he reached the middle of the dance floor and turned to you. 

“May I have this dance?” he asked, his expression soft and tender as he held his hand out to you. 

Stepping forward, you slipped your hand in his, your other hand resting on his shoulder. “I’d like that very much.”

Gilbert placed his other hand on your waist, gently tugging your body closer to his. Memories of the first time Gilbert danced with you in this room came flooding back as you rested your head on his shoulder, your bodies rocking to the rhythm of the beat of your hearts. 

The full black skirt of your dress swirled as Gilbert led you in dance, admittedly better than he was the last time you had danced. You looked up at Gilbert, your gaze meeting his as it dawned on you – he had this entire day planned. From the black bridal gown he made for you down to practicing dance steps when you were otherwise occupied, Gilbert had his hand in every detail of this special day. 

When he took your hand in his, your fingers interlaced, your heart skipped a beat. He brought your joined hands to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on your ring finger before sliding your fingertip between his teeth. His gaze turned seductive as his teeth pressed against your flesh.

“Gil…” you whispered, your words breathless as the initial stinging pain quickly subsided. 

This man, whom you once thought nightmares were made of, now filled your life with beautiful dreams. The love you shared wasn't always pretty, and the road you were on wasn't easy. 

But it was your journey, and you wouldn't change a single moment of it.

Because it was Gilbert. And you loved him and he loved you. Each day that he was alive and breathing and loving you was a gift. Did anything else really matter?

Tagging: @redheadkittys @alixennial @rhodolitesroseforclavis @kissmetwicekissmedeadly @chaosangel767 @queengiuliettafirstlady @queen-dahlia @ikehoe @ikemen-writer @talfollowingstuff @kpop-and-otome @kisara-16 @altairring @lucyw260 @lordsisterxotome @violettduchess @jet-ivory @bellerose-arcana @yarnnerdally @crypticbibliophile @scorchieart @tele86 @nightfoxqueen @midnightarxsia @wendolrea @aceuuuu

[kigozula]

As Long As We’re Together - Sokkla Saturdays 2024

Day 8 - Dreams: Deep Feelings, Part 1

FF.net & AO3

A sequel will follow next week. ;)

Four years have passed since the last time he left his tribe. Four years since he last visited the Fire Nation. Despite it all, Sokka got used to his time in Shu Jing. As a gift for his birthday, Kya and Hakoda arranged a trip to the scenic town. It has been Sokka’s dream to learn the art of sword fighting.

Hakoda knew Piandao personally. The Water Tribe Chief visited the Fire Nation on occasion, for trading and projects that involved both nations.

Weeks passed and Sokka’s lessons neared the end. The practices intensified. Piandao was disciplined, wise and friendly. He was impressed by how fast Sokka progressed.

Everything has been worthwhile on the island. Sokka missed his family, but he still enjoyed his time in Shu Jing. He knew from the start that he would give his best to master new skills.

What Sokka never expected though was to fall in love. Especially with her.

At some point, the most beautiful, complicated, and deep woman he ever met arrived to Piandao’s mansion. Life has not been the same since that day.

Princess Azula was Piandao’s guest. Fire Lord Ozai tasked her with working on the base of the newest project with one of his most trusted allies: Piandao himself.

Sokka’s world changed the minute Princess Azula set foot on Piandao’s mansion.

At the beginning, things seemed easy. Sokka knew her from their previous visits to the capital. Their families had dinner and worked together. Years passed and both Azula and Sokka matured, and spending time in the same place for so long was different.

She surprised him by accepting his hand when he greeted her in the garden. After that, things started to become spirited. Very often Piandao found them involved in heated arguments. At some point he gave up trying to slow them down and went for a walk.

Once, they quarreled seriously. Sokka said harsh things as defense to her harsh words. Their relationship changed after that fight. They talked it out and formed a new connection, which surprised Piandao. From that day on, they talked more, ate together, walked around town. Sokka even showed her his word skills and they shared some fighting stances with each other.

They got used to each other’s company. And without their awareness, they grew close.

Today, upon waking up Azula was disappointed to find out Sokka was gone. Apparently he went to buy groceries with Fat.

Azula paced around the garden when they finally came back. Sokka carried bags, his muscled arms flexing.

“Good morning Azula.” he greeted her white a smirk. He clearly noticed her staring.

“You took long.” she said.

“Don’t worry. I am back now, you can stare at me as long as you want.” he winked.

“I was just looking at the many bags. Did you buy the whole market by any chance?” she said, trying to hide her mild embarrassment.

He laughed softly, “I bought your favorite fruits.”

Azula smiled at that. She was ever so amazed by the little things he noticed on her.

“You want to train today?” Sokka asked her.

“Yeah, I already started warming up.” she replied.

Suddenly Fat joined their conversation with something Azula didn’t like at all.

“Princess, you might have competition. We took longer today because girls were asking him for favors.” he said.

Fat liked the princess and often made fun of her and Sokka, as long as her guards weren’t around of course.

Azula’s insides twisted at his declaration. She hoped the anger she felt wasn’t seen on her face. She turned to Sokka with blazing eyes, who looked incredibly pleased. It took willpower not to slap him. He was clearly enjoying her reaction.

“You know girls here?” Azula asked distasteful, “Are they your friends?”

“Yes, they are. Since I came here, I spend time with them when our ways cross. They get happy when they see me.”  he told her smiling.

Fat took the bags and walked inside the mansion, after tossing the bait at her.

“Good to know.” Azula smiled sarcastically. “I’ll do my training alone, you can go play with your precious friends.”

Before she could turn around, Sokka took a wide step and stood directly in front of her. He sensed her anger was about to turn into hurt, and he wouldn’t allow that.

“Hey now. Don’t tell me you are jealous of children playing ball and asking me to join them when I walk past.” he said smiling.

Azula knew she couldn’t hide her embarrassment now. That bastard had tricked her. But she was relieved. Her tension was going away.

“I wasn’t jealous. You think too highly of yourself.” She pushed him away by his chest and turned around. But Sokka took her hand and whirled her around, so that she came face to face with him. He didn’t let go of her hand, which was behind her back now.

“You are jealous princess. I know. Admit it.”

“How are you so sure of that? Why would I be jealous of you Sokka?“ she said smiling. Her voice taking a challenging tone.

“You know why.” Sokka whispered.

They were coming closer and closer and closer…. Until…

“Breakfast is ready.”

They separated immediately. Piandao stood at the door. His face unreadable. Azula felt uncomfortable about the fact that he saw them. She hoped he wouldn’t tell her father.

---------------------------

Days passed and fear was growing inside of their hearts.

Sokka went to Azula’s room. Sharing this moment in private was important. He wouldn’t be able to say goodbye properly on the shore.

“This goodbye is temporary. I promise Azula.” he told her cupping her cheek gently.

Azula couldn’t manage to form words, so she just nodded.

“Shhh come here.” Sokka pressed her into his strong chest, as tears formed in her eyes. With one hand he caressed her hair and the other surrounded her waist. He inhaled her scent, she clung to him, her heart calming.

They pulled away, noses touching. Sokka caressed her cheek and Azula’s eyes slowly closed and…

“Princess Azula, your guards are on the shore. Your ship is ready to take off. We’re going to escort you there.” Piandao called from the other side of the door.

Azula instinctively pulled away completely when she heard his voice.

Piandao gave her all the important documents for the project and thanked her. She thanked him as well and said farewell. Entering her ship never seemed so difficult, but she mastered it.

Piandao looked at the way her eyes watered and then at the melancholic expression on Sokka.

He couldn’t help but smile.

[greenlotusleaf]

“Been getting a little fat, hmm?” I poke at the slight outward curve of your tummy when we have a moment away from prying eyes. You blush. I know your secret. I’m the Ranger, stoic and grim to everyone but you. When we first met, we had a professional rivalry. We were always trying to outdo each other as the party’s scouts and trapfinders. We joked with each other over our near misses, confident in the other’s skills, and kept friendly wagers about how many monsters we could slay in an encounter. Whoever killed the most had free drinks for the night at the tavern. It was your drunken flirting that broke down my barriers. Sometimes I lost on purpose, knowing the state you’d be in. Although you never accused me of it, I think you knew. Then there was the spring. We had stopped to camp in the forest and chanced upon a shrine dedicated to the mother goddess of the old ways. I warned everyone not to drink from the spring. But you didn’t believe me. Our friendly competition got the best of you. You took a long drink from the clear water. It tasted fantastic. Then you start hacking and coughing, everyone looks surprised and concerned. You broke character and laughed big belly laughs at their expressions. “See? It’s just a bunch of superstitious nonsense,” you said. You were from the city. You thought you knew better. Days later with loot in tow, we head to town to rest and relax after a particularly grueling dungeon. It took a lot less beer to get you going this time. You smiled, sat in my lap, whispered in my ear, pouted, rubbed on me. I wanted it, badly, but I knew better. You set an enchantment into motion that had to be seen all the way through. Disappointed by my rejection, you went out with the nearest broad-shouldered farmer like you were possessed. I noticed the changes not long after that. You were eating constantly, everything you could fit in your mouth. You asked for seconds and whined when you couldn’t have thirds. Although, I obliged by giving you half my portions. After weeks your body began to accommodate all the extra food. Your lithe, little frame, so skinny you could practically fit through prison bars, began to plump up. Your clothes grew tight around breasts, hips, and ass first. I did enjoy watching you struggle with straps of your arm and whine when you had to loosen them. Now there’s your belly. Even though it’s still small, at the moment, I can see it get in your way. You’re not as quick as you used to be, and you’ve become very pouty about it. I find myself picking up your slack more and more with each passing day as the primal lifeforce inside you swells. I enjoy teasing you about it too. You’re in denial, but in a week or two, you’ll see. For my part, it’s my responsibility and joy to take care of you, as a practitioner of the old ways. In my dreams, I see you growing into an image of the mother goddess to be worshiped and fed. In my waking life, I have to fulfill these primal visions. They're like base instincts to me. When you come to terms with your new role, I'll take you to the Druid circle so that you can be properly worshiped and enjoy the months to come. Maybe you’ll want to remain as a living goddess for the Druids? Maybe you’ll want to go back to your old life as a rogue? Of course, it’ll be far, far more difficult with the weight and curves you’ll have accumulated.

I don't have the creative energy for a response that would do this justice, but it's way too good to sit unanswered in my inbox any longer. I simply have to share it. Thank you, anon. Delicious.

[supurman]

“you're safe here with me.”

he sees it again... he sees it clearly. metropolis in ruin. the anguish of cries that are happening all around him           too many to save at once. an onslaught of hands reaching at him in desperation. his friends... diana, bruce... they look at him in anguish anger. the fear of making a mistake haunted the perfect man. he could never be out of line. else there would be disappointment, failure, death, and ruin. everything far of perfection and benevolence that he strove for. messing up... having an accident. it could be catastrophic. a man like him, no matter how kind , could never make an error.

tonight having had stayed the night at bruce's home. a rare night bruce would sleep for an actual night ( after had been up for 36 hours, probably ). at first, it was nothing but some tossing and turning. but as the ailments in clark's own dreams turned to that of nightmare it all became much more than that. his heart was beating rapidly despite slumber. soon, he was levitating bemoaning the ailments that all we're within his head. ❝ i didn't mean it… ❞ a sorry tone, so small and desperate. it wasn't easy being a man made of steel, not at all. to never make a mistake. to worry about the ones you may make. even in his own sleep did he worry.

the terror only grew... under closed eye lids a threatening red glow permeated through the skin . even the sigh of pulsating blood vessels could be seen under the glow ready to shoot ultra condensed uv plasma. but then there is a rough touch on his wrist... an anchor from below . a jerk, a tug... keeping the kryptonian from floating any higher. urging him to wake. eyes snap open when the tug feels more like a hand pulling him out from under water. those very same red glowing eyes snap at bruce. they're so bright, giving the dark room red sheen. it really is bruce... but this time he wasn't looking at him in anger, it was concern. ❝ honey... ❞

It takes clark a moment to realize all the distress he was giving. flying, threatening plasma that begged to release from his gaze. ❝ oh - i - i'm sorry i just... it was a nightmare. i… ❞ he stutters helplessly over his words as he desperately pulls himself together.

red is dismissed to welcome a familiar ethereal blue just as he lowers back onto the mattress... a instant wave of dread comes over the super. how dangerous could he be when not in control. he saw it in his nightmares, and bruce saw it in clark's sleep. clark finds himself shrinking into the sheets trying to steady a racing heart and fast paced breath. shame... uncertainty. he felt like a wounded animal. ❝ i'm sorry. im really sorry. " pleading, almost. the large man becomes an ensnared hare and the sheets become brush to hide in. he can't look bruce in the eye, though he feels his hands along his hair and across his cheek... ❝ i could of hurt you. ❞ humans had nightmares. they tossed and turn with them. but clark was different; everything was different when he did anything. someone could die if he's ever out of line. it was hard being this way in front of his boyfriend. he only ever wanted to be perceived as reliable, dependable, steady, resilient. not small, anxious, clumsy, uncertain....

the super can feel bruce uncover his face. lift his head, and gently place it upon his lap to steadily run his hand along his hair.

“ you're safe here with me. ” @crimenight

the words come as a light in the dark - like the full moon. they halt clark's breath with it just for a moment. comforting were they just like his warm hands letting him know he wasn't alone. he could feel his eyes become glassy. the glisten builds into tears. they silent ones where he doesn't sob. only does he release a heavy sigh. though, its now his breathing begins to steady and heartbeat finds a more relaxed pace. ❝ i just don't want to let anyone down... my best. that's all i want to do. ❞ his voice is small in the darkness of the room. something raw and vulnerable. clark turns in bruce's lap to turn so that he can look upward at his dearly beloved... ❝ i love you.. can you hand me my glasses ? ❞

[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 49

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

Saff woke with a scream, scrambling back from the figure that loomed over her. Her heart raced as it came closer, raising its hands up to attack, chanting her name as it came for her, a look of anger in its cold eyes that shot fear through her heart…

She blinked, and the raging darkness around her faded to a soft orange light. 

Candles flickered gently in the comfort of their tent. Blankets were bundled round her, and she could feel the familiar softness of velvet against her skin. She finally realised the figure in front of her was no attacker at all, but was Gale, looking at her with deep concern in his soft brown eyes. His hands were not raised to attack, but were reaching out to comfort her. 

“Saff…?” he whispered, unsure if she’d snapped out of her dream yet or not. 

“Gale…” she murmured, then winced as she held her head, feeling the headache returning once more. “Gods, not again…”

He moved over to her and took her into his arms, stroking her hair as she leant into him. 

“Do you remember the dream this time?” he asked, but she shook her head. “And the headache is back again?”

“Yeah… same as before…” she muttered. Gale looked very troubled by that.

“Hmm… headaches and forgotten nightmares… this is a strange curse indeed.” 

“You think they’re both related to the curse?” She asked, looking up at him. 

“It seems likely if it’s the same headache. Unless you regularly have nightmares that you don’t remember upon waking?” She shook her head again. “Then I think we’d best keep our minds open to such a possibility.”

She supposed that made sense, but it only scared her more as she thought about what else the curse could be doing to her. 

When she left her tent the following morning she smiled as she saw Karlach happily singing to herself as she prepared for the day ahead. Saff grinned and sidled up to her, just as Karlach had done to her after she’d slept with Gale the first time. 

“Sooo,” she started, mimicking Karlach’s own words, “how was it??” 

Karlach laughed as she put her bag down and turned to face her. 

“I’ve been waiting for you to come ask,” she said with a wink. “Turns out, Wyll wants to take things slow. Real slow. So, we danced, then we sat under the stars and kissed, and fell asleep in each other’s arms. I’d have thought I’d be disappointed by that. But you know what, soldier? I loved it. I loved every moment. Gods, it feels so good to be able to do this! And if he wants to take it slow, that’s fine. I just hope my engine can last long enough…” she sighed sadly as she put her hand to her chest, then squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head. “But I’m not gonna think about that now. I’m too happy to let that get me down.”

Karlach smiled widely as she looked over at Wyll across the camp, deep adoration in her eyes. Saff could feel her heart welling with happiness as she watched her. Karlach had deserved this for so long, and she was certain they’d find a solution for Karlach, just like she was certain they’d find one for Gale. 

“I’m so happy for you,” she said, reaching up to put a hand on Karlach’s shoulder. “The night sounds like it was magical. You finally got your dance! You and Wyll will have to dance with us next time we’re celebrating!”

“Oh, absolutely,” Karlach replied with a grin. “We’ll show those boys how to party!” 

Saff was in a good mood as she headed out with Karlach and ‘the boys’ to accompany the Harpers on an ambush mission. One pixie blessing later and they set out with the others deeper into the curse in search of Moonrise Towers. The Harpers could point them in the right direction, but without being able to venture that deep themselves, that was the best they could do. 

The group split to cover more ground, though as the shadows grew stronger, they began to wonder if that had been the best decision. The battles were long and arduous, and there was no way of telling when the shadows would suddenly attack. It was when they finally decided to call it a day and head back that they heard Arabella’s voice. 

Saff was shocked to see her out there all alone, then even more shocked when she trapped a pair of attacking shadows with summoned thorns. She wasted no time in comforting Arabella and agreeing to take her back to camp with them, without so much as a glance to any of the others to see what they thought on the matter. 

“So,” Gale started as he and Saff walked behind the others, watching Arabella happily walking along in front of them while chatting to Karlach and Wyll, “she stole an idol of Sylvanus and now appears to have druidic powers. Clearly you should have done that,” he joked. 

“If only I’d known it was so easy,” she joked back, shaking her head. 

Back at Last Light Arabella was happy to reunite with her friends, and proudly told them all how the hero-lady was going to find mum and pops. Saff could hardly contain her happiness to see Arabella so confident in her. She couldn’t wait to find her parents and see the family safe together once more. 

She spent the evening with Halsin and Jaheira again, finding her balance within the curse, until they headed back to camp for dinner. She found Malitas there, which she’d expected as he’d said he would return that evening to continue his research. What she hadn’t expected was the thousand yard stare on his face as Arabella bombarded him with questions. 

“You’re an elf, right? Are you hundreds of years old? Do you do magic too? Are you Saff’s master? Do you have other apprentices? Can I be your next apprentice?” 

Saff had to stifle a laugh as she watched, and she quickly came to learn everyone else was rather enjoying it too. When Malitas finally spoke, it was with a question of his own. 

“Why are you asking me all this? There are plenty of others here you can talk to. Why don’t you ask them?”

“Because you’re the most interesting one here!” 

Given the cheeky grin Arabella gave him when she said that, Saff had absolutely no doubt that that wasn’t her reason at all - she was actually asking him because he was the most fun to wind up. Given the look on his face, he was well aware of this too. 

The questions didn’t stop as they all sat round the campfire for dinner, though he eventually relented and started to answer them. 

“How old are you?” 

“600.”

“Wow! Exactly 600?”

“No, not exa-”

“What did you do for your 600th birthday?” 

“What? I don’t celebrate my birthdays.” “Why not?” 

“When you get to my age, you stop celebrating them.” “Well that’s dumb. What’s the point in living that long if you don’t have birthday parties?” 

Malitas found he didn’t have an answer for that one, so she kept going. 

“You’re studying the Shadow Curse, right?” “Yes, I am.”

“So do you just sit there all day in a dusty old tower reading books?” “My tower is not dusty-”

“Can you fight?” 

“Yes.” 

“Then why don’t you go exploring with the others?” 

“Perhaps I will, but right now my skills are better put to use with research.” 

“That sounds boring.” 

“To you, perhaps. I find it quite fascinating.” 

“Adventuring has gotta be way more fun. You should try it!” 

An amused smile came to his lips at that comment. 

“Oh, should I? And what makes you think I haven’t been adventuring before?” 

She narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at him. 

“Have you?” she asked, cocking her head to the side. 

“Yes, I have. I spent 300 years travelling and adventuring.” 

Most of the group were quite surprised to hear that, but Saff was well aware. She’d heard some of his stories and seen the room in his tower where he kept the most valuable items he’d found during his adventuring days. 

“Really??” Arabella gasped excitedly, then grinned at this whole new avenue of questioning that just opened up to her. “What’s the most powerful thing you ever fought?” 

“Hmm… that would be an Ancient Red Dragon,” he answered, smiling slightly at the memory. Lae’zel narrowed her eyes disbelievingly. 

“Ch’k. I don’t believe you would be able to best one of my people’s great dragons,” she said, leaning forward as she looked at him accusingly. “It wasn’t aligned with the Githyanki, if that helps convince you,” he offered. That seemed to satisfy Lae’zel, who leaned back again.

“You really won, then?” Arabella asked. 

“No, it ate me,” he said sarcastically, a teasing smile on his lips, which she scoffed at.

“I meant, did you win or did you run away, not did you win or did you die! Obviously you didn’t die!”

He chuckled at her indignation.

“Yes, we won. Just about. We would have lost our barbarian, had our druid not known Revivify.” 

“That’s so cool. I’ve always wanted to see a dragon!” 

“Pray that if you do, it is not in battle,” he advised, which she chuckled at, before getting straight to the next question. 

“What’s the most powerful spell you know?”

“Ah, well that depends on what you think the most powerful school of magic is. Do you wish to see your enemies obliterated? Or protect your allies? Or turn your enemies against each oth-”

“Obliterated!!” She announced eagerly, to his amusement and, seemingly, approval. 

“In that case, Fire Storm.” 

Gale had to smirk to himself. Fire Storm was an undeniably powerful spell, but was certainly dwarfed by the most powerful spells he’d once been able to cast. Perhaps it was petty, but he couldn’t help but be happy knowing that, without the orb and the tadpole holding him back, he’d be quite significantly stronger than Malitas. Not only that, but Fire Storm was a spell that wizards found particularly difficult to learn, but came naturally to sorcerers. Of course his most powerful spell was one he did not need to put any effort into learning. 

Saff was also smiling to herself, though for quite different reasons. Arabella had a charm to her that even Malitas, despite how frustrated he’d looked at the beginning of the evening, couldn’t seem to resist as he now answered her questions with increasing enthusiasm. Though she wondered how much of that was down to the wine in his hands. 

“Did you like adventuring?” Arabella asked next.

“Yes, I did. It was challenging, rewarding and, well, profitable. Though it isn’t a vocation I’d recommend if you are not prepared.” 

“Why did you stop?” 

The smile on his lips turned from one of amusement to something else, something softer. He paused for a moment, looking into his wine, as if contemplating his answer. 

“I stopped to take on a very different sort of adventure,” he answered, then looked back up at them. “I had a daughter.” 

The answer took everyone by surprise, especially Saff, who had no idea about this. 

“You have a daughter??” she gasped, unable to hide the shock on her face. When Malitas looked at her to answer, the soft smile on his lips didn’t disappear, though there was a sadness to it that she didn’t see before. 

“Had,” he corrected. 

She felt her heart sink as she realised what he meant. 

“Oh, gods, I… I’m so sorry…” she said quietly. She’d been shocked he’d never spoken about this before, but now she realised why. “What… happened? If you don’t mind me asking…” 

“Nothing happened,” he said, shaking his head. “She and her mother lived long and happy lives. But…” he sighed slightly, staring into the distance, “the gods were cruel when they decided humans and half-elves should have such painfully short lifespans.” 

His words hung in the air for a moment, til he finished his drink and put his glass down. 

“Any further questions?” he asked Arabella, who for once remained quiet and shook her head. “Then I will return home, I have a lot of research to get through. Until tomorrow.” 

He gave them all a small nod, then stood up, summoned one of his portals and stepped through. The group were quiet for a long moment, until Arabella spoke. 

“I didn’t mean to upset him…” she said quietly, looking downwards. Saff walked over and sat down next to her, putting her arm around her shoulders. 

“You didn’t upset him,” she said softly, comforting Arabella. “I think he quite enjoyed answering all your questions.”

Arabella smiled as she looked up at Saff, who gave her a gentle squeeze.

“Now you’d better get some sleep. There’s a bed for you up at the inn, with the other kids. Get some rest, you’ve had a long day.” 

Arabella nodded, said goodnight to the others and headed off towards the inn. 

“So,” Astarion started with a smirk once she was gone, “a family huh? I didn’t see that one coming.”

Tara huffed slightly disapprovingly. 

“I hope he treated them better than he treated you,” she said to Gale. 

“Well I’m sure they never angered a goddess,” Gale replied. “I also think he’s been quite a lot more agreeable recently.” 

“Perhaps, but he’s still on thin ice as far as I’m concerned,” she said firmly. 

“I can’t believe he used to have a family…” Saff murmured quietly. “He’s never mentioned them.” 

“It is a difficult thing, to watch those you love grow old and die,” Halsin said softly, with an emotion in his voice that reminded Saff that, at 350 years old, he’d likely have gone through similar experiences himself. “Such memories are often not easily spoken of.” 

Astarion rolled his eyes.

“He knew what he was getting into when he chose a human,” he said with a shrug. 

“We cannot choose who we fall in love with,” Gale reasoned. 

“Yeah,” Karlach agreed. “Have a heart, Astarion.” 

“What’s left of my heart stopped beating a long time ago,” he replied dramatically, waving his hand dismissively. 

The conversation eventually moved on, though Saff couldn’t stop thinking about it. Slowly, she began to realise there was so much about Malitas that she didn’t know. 

---

She’d been dreaming of butterflies when she was woken by the sound of the teleportation spell. After quickly chucking some clothes on she’d gone off in search of Malitas, expecting to find him in his study as usual, but had found the room empty. After some searching she finally found him on the second highest floor in the observatory. But it wasn’t reading through the astronomy books that she found him, nor looking through the antique telescope or using any of the myriad of intricate tools that lined the shelves of the room. She found him on the balcony, simply looking up at the stars. She started to approach the balcony door, til she saw what he held in his hand. 

A small, golden locket. 

She knew that locket, and what was inside it. She’d seen it before. The tiny, centuries-old painting of the family he’d once had. He’d spoken of them only once, some time ago, when she’d accidentally found the locket while cleaning his study. She was surprised to see him with it again now, but figured this was not a time to interrupt him. 

Slowly she began to step back out of the room, but evidently wasn’t as stealthy as she thought she was, as he suddenly looked over and turned to see her. Their eyes met for a moment, and he waved for her to stay. She watched as he slipped the locket into his pocket and came in through the balcony door. 

“Evening,” he greeted, his tone a tad more melancholy than usual. 

“Evening,” she replied quietly, her eyes flicking down to his pocket. He noticed and chuckled softly. 

“No hiding anything from you, is there?” he said, taking the locket back out. He leant against the desk behind him, looking down at it as he ran his thumb over the gold engravings on the surface. 

“You don’t need to hide anything from me,” she said softly, walking up to him and gently putting her hand on his. His eyes flicked up to meet hers, before going back down again to the locket he held. There was a moment of quiet between them. 

“Why do you never speak of them?” She asked quietly. For a moment he didn't reply. 

“What is there to say?” he answered eventually. 

“You must have something to say about your family. About the daughter you raised, the woman you loved.” 

“Would you want to hear me talking about the woman I loved?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Would it not bother you if I still thought about her?”

“It would bother me if you didn’t,” she answered, a hint of surprise in her tone as she looked at him. “You loved her. The people we’ve loved and lost should always have a place in our hearts, even if we’ve moved on and found someone else.” 

A look of surprise crossed his face. 

“You really are something, aren’t you?” he said, lifting his hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “Selfless to a fault.”

“I hardly think it’s selfless to say you shouldn’t forget your family,” she objected.

“You’d be surprised,” he replied, lowering his hands and leaning back slightly on the desk. “Many would not be happy with anything less than the whole of their partner’s heart, even if the one who still owns a part of it is gone.” 

“Well… I think that would be unreasonable,” she said, folding her arms. “You shouldn’t just forget about them. I mean… if nothing else, you’ll see them again in the afterlife, right?”

He scoffed and looked aside. 

“What awaits me in the afterlife? Centuries ago I might have hoped Mystra would find my soul and lead it to Elysium. Now, though… I’m sure she’s heard the things I’ve said about her over the years. Likely all that awaits me is the Wall of the Faithless.”

She looked at him in shock. The Wall of the Faithless, the great barrier that protected the City of the Dead, made up of the souls of those who worshipped no god, left there by the divine to rot and wallow for all eternity. Few fates were worse than that. 

“Then why not find a new god?”

He grimaced.

“Ah, the plight of all mortals, to beg the divine for salvation from eternal damnation,” he muttered bitterly, shaking his head. “Perhaps Saffron can find a new god. I am not so sure about myself.”

“Saff? Why would she need a new god?” she asked, frowning in concern. 

“Mystra groomed Gale since he was a child to serve her, then left him to die when he stepped out of line. She now commands him to detonate the orb in his chest to destroy the Absolute, thus killing himself in the process.” Her eyes widened in shock as Malitas explained. 

“Saffron does not wish to follow her after this. I suppose you’re feeling similarly?”

She looked away and folded her arms as her thoughts were taken off Gale and turned instead to herself. 

“Why would I follow Mystra?” she muttered with a shrug. “Why would I follow any god… they have nothing to offer me.” 

She looked back at him, a look of concern returning to her face.

“Is Gale going to follow her orders?”

“He’s set against doing so. Though I can’t help but wonder what he will do if there is no other choice… I don’t think he would condemn the world for his own sake.” 

She looked downwards sadly, holding her arms. No one should have to sacrifice themselves for a god… and to hear what Mystra had done to him made her sick. Maybe Saff was right to turn away from her…

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Malitas chuckle. 

“What?” she asked, looking up at him in confusion. 

“See? This is what I mean. Selfless to a fault. Look how worried you are, about someone you’ve never even met. And not just him, I’ve seen how much you worry for Saffron as well.” 

“Of course I worry about her,” she objected. “How could I not?”

“Not everyone in your position would,” he said, looking at her thoughtfully. “Some would become bitter, or jealous. But not you…” he lifted a hand and gently brushed his fingers over her cheek. “You could never feel that way. You can’t even comprehend wishing for anything but the best for them… for anyone.” 

He leant forward slightly and lay his other hand on her waist, the locket now left on the desk next to him. 

“As kind as you are beautiful. You’re perfect…” he whispered into her ear, leaning in close enough for her to feel his breath on her neck. 

“I think you have a very low bar for perfection,” she said as he brushed his lips over her skin and ran his hand down her body to her waist. 

“And modest, too,” he added with a chuckle. He pulled away just enough to look into her eyes. “You are… intoxicating.”

“You sure that’s not the wine?” she teased playfully, smelling it on his breath. He smiled as he leant in further. 

“I’m sure,” he whispered, closing the gap between them.

As he kissed her, her mind wandered back to his earlier words. Did he really think her such an innocent angel, who could show only love in the face of pain? Oh, how wrong he was. 

Sometimes it felt like bitterness and jealousy were all she knew.

[sasslett]

69

Only - Imagine Dragons

Tell me the things that you want I give you all that I've got Open your eyes, then you will see It's just you and me

The sunlight burned warm across Varrus’ skin as he laid back in the sand, the sound of the waves gently lapping upon the shore reaching his ears. 

“Varrus!”

He grinned at the sound of his name, knowing that voice well as he cracked open an eye and lifted his head - only for his breath to catch as he caught sight of her, standing in the water but a handful of yalms away, only a scant red bikini concealing her gorgeous form. He’d never seen so much of her skin; his eyes traveled across her body, from her gentle curves to the hard lines of her muscles, to her face, finding her smirking at him with a raised brow. 

“See something you like?”

“You know I do,” he snorted, mesmerized as she tantalizingly strode closer, until she stood over him, blocking out the light of the sun and extending her hand - though he wasn’t certain he wanted to move, much enjoying his view. 

“Come on,” she huffed, a twinge of impatience that he recognized to her tone, “the water is fine.”

“That’s not all that’s fine.” With a grin, he finally accepted her grasp, allowing her to pull him to his feet - and pull him closer at that, as the man found himself pressed practically every ilm against her. Something she didn’t seem to mind, as she held his gaze, her hand gently sliding up his shirtless torso, coming to rest upon his cheek. At the same time, she pushed herself up on her toes and wrapped her hand around the back of his neck, pulling his lips down to- 

With a groan, Varrus’ eyes flickered open, finding a familiar stone ceiling greeting him above. 

Of course it was a dream. It was always a dream. 

And yet… the pang of disappointment weighing upon his chest was so very real. As was the pain he felt every morning, waking up alone when all he could long for, all he could dream of was her. 

Would that he had the courage to tell her.

[nfumbewalk]

Got Work Done

Thought I'd show my Visconti deck, though the gold sheen cannot be seen. This deck is based off the Marseilles deck, not Rider-Waite. I refuse to use those decks because Mr. Waite fabricated the symbolism of the Minor Arcana. Just do some digging and read "The Devil's Picturebook," by Paul Huson. This reading posted is a yes/no spread. Its a "yes" answer. How? Just ask! I got it from an underground Santa Muerte book. 😉

Mmmkay...to the actual post! I got some shit done today, well, on Proj. 163.190! My book! I've made a concerted effort to wake up daily around 5:00-6:00 AM and without an alarm! I like getting my Fuel from Black Rock and hitting the laptop! Putting on some Sisters of Mercy or Jesus and the Mary Chain, maybe Velvet Underground and definitely The fuckin Rolling Stones,"Some Girls," Exile," or "Sticky Fingers..." Gets me psyched!

I wrote on various topics today. About tools of Muerteria, anointing oils, behaviors, lots of things I consider important, though some may say not incredibly important. Naw, everything I put in that book IS very detailed and has MEANING. Its all integral to the practice/path.

The rest of this post...is innocuous. I've been reading the Grimiorium Verum again. My favorite grimiore besides Abramelin. I'm reading Peterson's version with the two other languages. I've always liked Scirlin, though there isn't a hell of a lot about him. I've read other people's impressions and find them inaccurate to mine, as I find him to be of Saggitary, but so close to Capricorn (2 days) that I don't really consider him a Fire element Demon. Maybe Firey Earth? Naw. Earth to me. Hate to disappoint.

Huictugaras is the ONE Demon that I actively worked with, unique to the Verum only. This Demon can cause either insomnia to a great degree or total slumber that is very difficult to awaken from. They also affect dreams as well, bringing an onslaught of them. I have used these capabilities to my own pleasure, never having a backfire, not yet anyway - unless you count a grumpy spouse. But he's always grumpy when he wakes up!!

Huictugaras came to me very recently and wanted me to build a space for them. I say 'them' to be gender neutral, because mainly, this Demon has not showed a gender to me. If they do, I'll properly identify them. 😊 So, I have a small spot with items that I intuitively grabbed for Huictugaras. They are a Water Demon, I gathered - because they hold dominion over sleep and dreams, which also tells me that Neptune may be their planet.

I got blue items and my brass chalice as well as a brass offering bowl and brass candlesticks. All the items screamed out at me - as well as this big, painted animal bone I got "during the old Trad Dem times" from a now deceased Demonolator friend. That was 2001. Yeah, about there. I was just divorced from my ex. Very same year I was initiated, just months earlier. Huictugaras definitely wanted my sharp dagger. They said that they saw my Siphoning technique when I call upon Rodolfo. It was interesting to them and they want to try it!?! How long has Huictugaras been here?

I don't make a habit out of Demons, just Biffy is typically invited. I do not call on any others. What I had problems with was the old Demonolatry community, not so much the religion. I didn't know how to properly handle Demonic energy for a very long time. Actually it was as recent as the 2020's. A LOT of things with me have changed since I had my opening, my attunement. And I did almost all of it on my own. I had a tiny ritual that I did that made the huge difference. What was it? Some of it was becoming a devotee of Santa Muerte. Part of it was pacting with my muerto, Rodolfo.

The main thing was the practice I started with Rodolfo and other muertos around me. It has now become Muerteria.

If practiced in full, daily, I think Muerteria can change lives. First, you become more humble. More respectful. More dutiful, responsible. But also, kind and loving. It puts you on the spiritual wavelength where you learn to automatically care for other people, not just muertos and family - but caring about other humans and our planet. The muertos are monumentally important and you care for all of them deeply - especially your muerto(s). There's physical stuff to do.

There's a choice to use magic, but if you do - its best to include your muerto. You can teach them and they can learn by watching you. My muerto watched me - he's now a powerful magical ally of mine. I send him out for trabajos.

I certainly hope that when Proj. 163.190 is done, I can get it published by someone. I really do not want to self-publish!!

Muerteria is my little miracle work.

Me in my Sisters of Mercy shirt and Biffy necklace from Arcana13, Canada. Pewter, handcrafted. Small Amethyst cabochon top.

Hmm, Demons and me now? Well, don't think many of them will grace my presence because I made a crap ton of mistakes with them. Big ones that aren't likely forgiven. It could just be a couple of hierarchies. The Verum Demons (not the big ones like Lucifer) seem to be available to me, as are Abramelin Demons. Goetia? Only for divination. Forget Dukanté. But there's many, many, many Demons and lower demons out there.

But as a religion? Nope. Religion isn't for me. A practice is.

And, so ends this scattery post.

M.M. 💖💀💖

[myndless88]

I'm curious about Who To Choose and Random story. 😁

So, I just realized that 'Random story' is actually completed. But I'll talk about it anyway. Both stories are fanfics mainly involving myself in a romantic relationship with my ultimate Korean pop bias, Shim Changmin.

'Who To Choose' is supposed to be about Changmin and I (as Changmin's personal assistant and growing love interest) going to Japan for a while for his activities. While there, I meet Junnosuke Taguchi--a member of popular Japanese pop group KAT-TUN (and my ultimate Jpop bias in real life). I start having feelings for him as well as ones for Changmin, so I don't know who to choose. It's basically supposed to be one of those love triangle things where both guys are trying to compete for the love of the girl. I just checked my file for this, and I haven't even gotten to Japan yet! ^^;; Here's a section:

The shrieks of hundreds of fangirls echoed in the large terminal as I tried to keep up with the envoy of staff, security, and the person I was assigned to work for.  On either side of me were the excited faces of girls ranging from their early teens to around my age kept away only by aisle separators.  They were screaming for one man who was further up front, but could easily stand out because of his tall, beautiful figure.  He was the man that I’m to personally assist, but also whom I’m completely smitten over.  This man is one fifth of super famous South Korean male group, Dong Bang Shin Ki: Shim Changmin.

The 'Random story' is basically me coming back to S. Korea after being away for several months. While on my way, my flight makes a short stop in Japan where I meet Junnosuke at the airport. Then it's back in the air to my destination. Upon my arrival in S. Korea, I'm greeted by Changmin. We head my unoccupied apartment, have small conversations, have a "special night", he asks me to marry him , and then BAM! I wake up on the plane that just landed in S. Korea. All of it was a dream. So now I'm disappointed. I head back to my unoccupied apartment, run into Chagnmin there, we have small conversations, I tell him about my dream, he finds it kind of wild that I'd dream something like that but doesn't call it a total loss, he presents me the same ring in my dream, asks me to marry him, I say yes, and we have our "special night". It's all real this time, lol. Here's two sections:

“Maddie-ah, there’s something bothering you.  I just know it.  Normally you’re complaining to me about everything, so why is this time any different?”  “…It’s a rather silly reason.” “Try me,” he challenged.  I sighed and pushed out of his embrace.  I told him to take a seat, so we sat on the living room couch.  From there I explained my dream in ‘very’ minor detail, but I still couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.  Judging from the look on Changmin’s face, he was a little taken aback as well.  Man, sometimes I hated being too honest.  “S-See?  It’s just a silly dream I had…” I said, looking away from him.                 “Well, that is a very…interesting dream,” he said, a little astonishment in his voice.  I looked down in shame.  “However, I wouldn’t exactly call it a total loss…” he muttered.

“This…this isn’t a dream, right?  This time…it’s real, right?” I asked, trying so hard not to cry like a baby.  He smiled and nodded slowly. “It’s not a dream this time, Maddie-ah.  I want to marry you.  I love you.”  I couldn’t hold them in any longer, and I just cried and cried.  Changmin seated himself next to me, leaned in to hug me tightly, and I cried into his chest.  He rubbed my back to help me calm down.  When I reduced my cries to just little sniffles, he took the ring out of the box and took hold of my left ring finger.  He glided the ring on it, and looked up at me with the sweetest smile.  Almost knowing what each other wanted, we both leaned in for a kiss.  It was just as mind-blowing as in my dreams.  After several minutes we broke for air, both of our faces flush.  “There is…one more part to your dream that has yet to be fulfilled, ne?” he hesitantly asked.  At first I was a little confused, but then I realized what he was talking about.  I blushed feverously. “A-Ah, yeah.”  “Well, then…” he began, as he picked me up bridal style off the couch, “would I be asking too much in one night if we could, you know, fulfill that part of your dream?”  I blushed so hard that I felt like I would self-combust at any given moment.  But regardless, I nodded my head in approval. 

Looking back at these stories, I have to chuckle because you can definitely tell they were written by a 22 year old with a huge crush on her favorite celebrities. I even used Japanese/Korean words in place of English ones: "Yatta!" ("hooray!") or "Mianhae" ("Sorry") for example. But those were what was popular back then, and it's the only time I've done self-insert. In fact, the first five fanfics listed in the WIP game are all kind of like that.

Thank you for finding those two titles intriguing! And, to top it off, here are pics of my Kpop and Jpop biases (Changmin on the left and Junnosuke on the right)!

Ask me about my WIPs

[yumenotambourin]

Just sorta piling up all my AUs to count them

They're all Elfilis-centric because Elfilis

Regular:

Unnamed AU

Elfilis is saved by Neichel before they get captured and the two become besties. Shenanigans ensue.

Gatorade Flavored Ratatouille

Elfilis and the gemini stumble upon a human colony. Elfilis plans to slowly mentally torture the humans for revenge and tries to get the gemini to join them, but Elfilin opposes and Forgo doesn't want to interact with humans ever again. The three fight all the time but still hold onto eachother.

Super Mario Galaxy AU i guess?

Not realky Super Mario Galaxy, but basically the humans already had "planetary warp technology" and Elfilis and Neichel meet up during their intergalactic travels and also Lab Discovera wants to capture Elfilis anyways so they have to do a Mario Galaxy to stop them??? Idk

Unnamed Candy World AU

Mousies wake up in a candy world with no memories of how they got there. Elfilis feels like something is wrong, but they're too overconfident to act on their suspicions. Plus, the gemini have a thing for sweets (which they got from Elfilis themself of course) so they're overjoyed.

Backrooms AU

Morpho traps the rats in a dream that resembles the backrooms (that Lizzie knew of from reading children's minds) to trick them into dying.

Boxed Gemini

In which they are actual siblings. That's it.

Idol AU

There's a whole ass seraphim society now! After beating the living shit out of Boib, Elfilis becomes a super idol. Once again, Morpho wants them dead. Elfilis is fucking terrified and uses their music as a cry for help.

Also Neichel is there as Elfilis' fancy pet and best friend because this was originally gonna be an Elfilis-Neichel swap but there's so little that can be done with that.

elfilingamer87

Elfilis accidentally starts a livestream and everyone cheers. They become rather popular pretty quickly. Elfilin sees this and wants to be a steamer too, so he makes a YouTube channel named 'elfilingamer87' and streams his gameplay of Kirby's Dream Buffet. Unfortunately he ends up having only one subscriber, which makes him extremely sad because he thinks Elfilis will be disappointed in him if they find out. William Afton, a human, tricks him into being experimented on in exchange of fame and knowing who that one subscriber is. Turns out that one subscriber was Elfilis themself, who had been advertising his channel like crazy.

Gijinka:

Normal People AU

Void is actually a corporation where a huge accident took place, leading to the death of four important employees(?) and their partners. Their children (the heroes of yore) are childhood friends who got separated in their teenage years (Elfilis moved to London, the others idk) so with the death of their parents they're trying to find eachother and help eachother out.

Kirby is Meta Knight's adopted son and Meta Knight is Galacta's brother

Despite the setup, this one is also very Elfilis-centric and focuses on them raising their twin siblings on their own.

Miitopia:

The first one I kinda abbandoned

The only non-Elfilis-centric one because Forgotten Land wasn't out yet

Void (who I headcanon as the creator god of Kirby) is trappen inside a universe that is not their own, which leads them to dark curse out

The main hero is Kirby (miitopia), the Great Sage is Nova for some reason and the Dark Lord is Zero.

Great Sage Elfilis

Elfilis is basically Lucifer from Christianity, except that instead of falling down to hell they fall to the mortal world and are thought to be the child of god (who is actually Kirby). And they're also amnesiac.

Elfilin and Forgo are manifestations of their feelings. Forgo becomes the curse and Elfilin sets out to save the world, but Elfilis is intrigued to why this random ass child looks so much like them so he takes him under their wing.

Princet Elfilis

Mousies are very beautiful children who destroy the orphanage they were in to escape and are adopted by King Dream Minecraft. But King Dream Minecraft is a horrible person so Elfilis and Galacta (the head knight of Dreamhorne who became Elfilis' best friend) manage to get him exiled and Lizzie becomes the new monarch.

The first one again but Elfilis

In the first AU, Galacta plays the role of the town guide, and is an ex warrior who was exiled for being too violent and runs a bar now. He briefly takes care of Void.

In this AU, Elfilis there as well alongside Galacta, although they left willingly after a fight with William Afton.

They heavily dislike Void, which leads them and Galacta to get possessed.

[lothiriel84]

There Will Your Heart Be Also

Spain was a revelation for Mr Thornton, in more ways than one.

A North and South ficlet. AU. John/Margaret.

Spain was a revelation for Mr Thornton, in more ways than one. Unused as he was to southern climates, he had packed his winter overcoat for the journey – only to discover upon his arrival that February in Cádiz was about as warm as July in Milton Northern, the sky and the ocean a brighter, more vibrant hue than any he had seen in his life.  

He was there on business on Mr Hamper’s behalf, but in the evenings he took no small pleasure in wandering the picturesque streets, and wondering which manner of lives men and women could lead in a place like this. It was on one such evening he came upon a vision so unexpected he was left to flounder in astonishment, as if plummeted back into one of the bittersweet dreams which had been plaguing his sleep for close on two years now. 

There stood Miss Hale, more beautiful in waking life than in those precious recollections he kept safely tucked away within the sanctuary of his own heart – and in her arms, a babe, gurgling happily away in that manner peculiar to infants. He’d had this exact same vision countless of times; only, in his dream, the babe was his, and Margaret the loving wife who welcomed him home with open arms.  

That was never to be, of course – he had known it for quite some time, and he thought he had long made his peace with it; but his heart, stubborn thing that it was, had held onto the last shred of hope for months on end, and was now sitting heavy and dull in the middle of his chest, the fiery colours of the approaching sunset dimmed to nothing as he quietly mourned all the things he would never know for himself. 

But no, he could not, would not begrudge Margaret her happiness; young as she was, the lass had already had to bear more than her fair share of sorrow, and he loved her too well to wish her alone and miserable in this world. If she had met an honourable man, one who was truly worthy of her love – then he ought to rejoice in her good fortune, bury his selfish disappointment deep down within himself, where it could never hurt her. Sparing one final moment for a silent farewell to the vision of happiness that would forever be imprinted in his memory, he called upon his fortitude so that he might turn his back to it once and for all. 

“Mr Thornton!” a familiar voice called in that precise moment, as sweet to his ears as a siren’s song luring unsuspecting sailors to their doom. “Mr Thornton, wait!” 

He could never deny anything, not even this. As slowly as Orpheus turning to behold the one he loved above all, he answered the warmth of her smile with the deepest of bows.  

“Miss Hale,” he began, the title falling off his lips out of familiarity, and he could have bitten off his tongue at that moment. “My apologies, I do not know how to properly address you.” 

Margaret, generous heart that she was, looked more confused than offended by his slip. “Was our acquaintance so forgettable that you can no longer be sure of my name, Mr Thornton? I am still the same Miss Hale you once knew, though I no longer reside in Crampton.” 

“I – see,” was all he could manage, his gaze returning to the child in her arms without any conscious permission on his part. “I hope you are well, Miss Hale.” 

“I am very well, Mr Thornton. I wonder – if it is not too much trouble, would you come in for a moment? There is nothing in this world that would make me happier than introducing you to my Spanish family.” 

“If that is what you wish,” he heard himself reply, as if from a distance, still puzzled as to the particulars of Margaret’s – Miss Hale’s, he quickly corrected himself – current situation. He was not best pleased upon finding himself face to face with the very same man from Outwood Station, his hand outstretched in friendly greeting. 

“This is my brother, Frederick,” Miss Hale made the introduction, as if it was nothing – and he just stood there, dumbstruck, as this Frederick person shook his hand with unnecessary vigour, his warm brown eyes dancing with some secret amusement only known to himself. “And this is my sister-in-law, Dolores – as for my niece Maria, I believe you two have already met, though she is a little shy of strangers at present.” 

As if on cue, the infant began fussing in her aunt’s arms, and was promptly handed to her waiting mother. “I do beg your pardon, Sir,” Dolores excused herself in somewhat broken English, and retreated upstairs so that she might see to her daughter.  

“A brother,” Mr Thornton managed at length, looking between the two siblings. Unclouded by jealousy at last, he could see the resemblance – though Margaret was all her father, whilst Frederick had taken more after Mrs Hale. “Why did Mr Hale never mention a son?” 

“It is quite a long tale,” Frederick offered, gesturing for him to take a seat. “I would gladly tell you all about it, for I know you have been a most loyal friend to our family.” 

A friend. That was the best he could aspire to under the circumstances, and he was hit afresh with a wave of shame at how ready he had been to believe the worst of Miss Hale. He sat down heavily, and with a curt nod of the head, prepared himself to hear Frederick Hale’s story. 

.

Margaret had scarcely believed her eyes when she had spotted the unmistakable figure of Mr Thornton, standing to one side of the street as if deep in thought, not ten feet away from her. Her heart had leapt in her throat, and before she knew what she was about, she had called out his name, seized by the sudden fear of letting this unforeseen opportunity to make amends for her conduct go to waste.  

Mr Thornton had listened very intently to Frederick’s explanations about the circumstances of the mutiny and everything that followed, all the way down to his precipitous escape from Milton, on the same evening that saw Leonards’ untimely demise. Margaret had then expressed her sorrow for the falsehood she had felt no choice but to commit to at the time, and had come to bitterly regret since.  

“I only wish you could have found it within yourself to trust me, Miss Hale,” was Mr Thornton’s only reproach, and a very mild one at that; Margaret coloured, hesitated, and eventually admitted she could never have asked of him to choose between his duty as her father’s friend and that as a magistrate.  

At this point in the conversation, Frederick rose, declaring his intention to check on his wife and child; taking his leave from Mr Thornton for the time being, he left the door to the sitting room half open, and joined the rest of his family upstairs.  

“I must go also,” Mr Thornton announced somewhat abruptly, causing her heart to plummet within the cavity of her chest. “It has been good to see you, Miss Hale.” 

“Oh, but won’t you stay a little longer? It’s been so long since I last was in Milton – I was hoping for some fresh news of how mutual acquaintances.” 

Mr Thornton’s face fell so suddenly she felt she had once more succeeded in unwittingly offending him. “Of course,” he replied at last, his tone carefully devoid of any emotion. “What is it that you wish to know?” 

“I trust Miss and Mrs Thornton are in good health,” she ventured to ask, unsettled by the sudden change in his demeanour.  

“They are both in excellent health, thank you. My sister is lately married to Mr Watson; as for my mother, she’s entirely taken up with the care of her grandchildren, and much happier for it, if you can believe such a thing.” 

Grandchildren. Of course, there was no reason for Mr Thornton to remain unmarried – indeed, it was only to be expected that a man of his position in life should readily find a more suitable companion, someone worthy of taking up the role of his wife and the mother of his children. “Oh,” she murmured at length, desperately searching for words of congratulations that would not stick so painfully in her throat. “That is marvellous news, indeed.” 

“Twin boys,” he went on, entirely unaware of the silent battle she was fighting within herself. “Poor Fanny was left quite shaken with the ordeal, but she’s the happiest creature in the world now, I can assure you.”  

“Oh,” she uttered again, feeling quite slow-witted, and entirely wicked for rejoicing at the implication that there might not be a Mrs John Thornton, after all. “Mr Watson is a lucky man, I take it.” 

“A very lucky man indeed,” and there it was, the once familiar bitterness seeping back into his tone. “Miss Hale, I had been hoping to conceal this from you, but I find I can pretend no more; I am no longer Master of Marlborough Mills, and indeed, there is no Marlborough Mills to speak of anymore.” 

Margaret’s heart constricted quite painfully within her ribcage, and it took every inch of her willpower not to make a spectacle of herself by clasping his hands with her own. “Mr Thornton, I had no idea – what happened?” 

He straightened himself, as she knew was his habit when faced with some displeasing circumstance. “The mill had been in a precarious position for quite some time after the strike, and the fluctuations of the market made it impossible for things to pick up again. Mr Watson offered me to take part in a speculation, but I could not, not after – in short, he was successful, while I was forced to give up my business. I work under Mr Hamper now – this is why I am here, to negotiate quite an important business arrangement on his account.” 

“What of your workers?” Margaret could not stop herself from asking. “What of Nicholas, and Mary – and the Boucher children, who is going to feed them now?” 

“It is all taken care of,” Mr Thornton shook his head gravely. “Most of my workers have been taken on by other mill masters, and as for Higgins, Mr Watson has agreed to give him work on my request.” 

At this, she found she could no longer hold back her tears. “You are a good man, Mr Thornton. If only I had seen it sooner – but I did not understand you back then, and of that, I am sorry.” 

“Margaret,” she heard him murmur close to her ear, and she looked up to find him kneeling on the floor at her side. “Take care. If you do not speak – I shall claim you as my own in some strange presumptuous way. Send me away at once, if I must go; Margaret!” 

Margaret made no move to speak; never before had she known such delicious silence, and she rested her cheek against his, truly at home at last.