#varian being the only one of the two who can hold the other up

[tomwaterbabies]

nuru comes to visit her FRIENDS out of the kindness of her HEART and for WHAT? and for what

here's the reference image

[serpentandlily]

Untouchable VII - Azriel x Reader

Untouchable - Azriel x Rhysand'sSister!Reader

Summary: For as long as you can remember, you have always had feelings for Azriel, your court’s spymaster. But after centuries of watching him pine after your own cousin, hoping he’d eventually move on, your wish came true. He moved on—with Elain, your brother’s mate’s sister. Unable to watch him fall in love with someone else again, you flee from Velaris, from him. But things are a lot more complicated than that—more complicated than you ever imagined.

Warnings: angst angst angst

➻❥ Part I ➻❥ Part II ➻❥ Part III ➻❥ Part IV ➻❥ Part V

➻❥ Part VI ➻❥ Part VII ➻❥ Part VIII ➻❥ Part IX ➻❥ Part X

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

Part VII

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

“Are you alright?”

Feyre’s voice knocked you out of your own head. You swallowed audibly, looking at her before following her gaze down to where you were holding your wine glass, white knuckled. You let out a sigh and set the glass down on the table, putting your hands in your lap.

“I’m fine, sorry,” you said, to get her attention off of you. “Just thinking about my last trip to Hewn City, that’s all.” 

Feyre’s brows furrowed but she nodded. 

Your eyes flickered back to the other end of the table, where Elain and Azriel sat. Elain was basically halfway out of her chair, leaning into Azriel’s space. A knot formed at the back of your throat. Azriel wasn’t exactly encouraging her, but he also wasn’t trying to put more distance between the two of them. 

Jealousy roared its ugly head inside of you. Especially as you watched her place a hand on his arm, laughing at something he said. A hand that wouldn’t hurt him, unlike yours. 

You looked away, unable to bear the sight of it anymore. You just wanted this stupid dinner to be over already. 

Everyone seemed to have paired off into conversation. Feyre and Rhys, Cassian and Nesta, Helion and Mor, Amren and Varian, Elain and Azriel. You pushed around the food on your plate, feeling alone. 

There was one another person here who looked just as lonely as you. Lucien sat across from you, his eyes glued on his mate who was flirting with your…with your Azriel. 

Elain laughed again, drawing your attention back to her. This time, Azriel had a soft smile on his face as well. 

You couldn’t take it anymore, thankful everyone seemed to be finished eating dessert. You cleared your throat, standing up and drawing everyone’s eyes to you. You kept your focus on Helion though.

“I'm going to turn in for the night. It was lovely seeing you again, Helion,” you said politely. “Goodnight.”

You couldn’t get to the balcony fast enough, summoning your wings to make the short flight back to the River House. You ignored the soft stroke of your brother’s claws against your mental shield, not in the mood to make up excuses for your behavior. 

Once you were in your room, you started ripping the pins from your hair and tossing them on your vanity. Just as you were finishing letting your hair down, the shadows in the corner of your room seemed to expand until a dark figure stepped out of them. 

Azriel approached you, concern written on his face. 

“Y/n? Why did you take off like that? Is everything alright?”

You didn’t turn to face him, instead you looked at him through the mirror. 

“I’m fine. I-I just didn’t feel too good.” 

“Don’t do that, princess,” Azriel said, stalking forward until he was right behind you, still able to look at you in the eyes considering he was a foot taller than you. “I thought we were being honest with each other now.” 

You let out a sigh and turned around, placing a soft hand on his chest. “I’m sorry. I just… I couldn’t stand watching you with her. After what I saw that night—” You choked on your own words for a second. “It’s hard to be around you when I can't be with you.” 

Azriel placed his hand over yours. “I cannot apologize enough for that night, princess. But it is only you that I see. It meant nothing to me then and it means nothing to me now. You are the only one who owns my entire heart. I can only pray that a day comes when I can let everyone else see that too.” 

You softened, staring up at his beautiful hazel eyes. They were gold right now in the moonlight shining into your room from the balcony doors, a perfect compliment to your own violet ones. But then his jaw clenched and the moment was stolen away.

You pulled your hand away from him, letting your arm fall limp at your side. 

“This is also why I left,” you breathed out. “It pains me to see another person get to touch you when I can’t. I hate it, Azriel. I hate that I bring you pain.” 

“I’d drag myself across the burning fires of hell for you, princess” Azriel brushed a piece of hair behind your ear, before leaning down to whisper, “I’ve never been a stranger to pain, y/n. Quite the opposite. I’ve learned to like it.” 

The heat in his gaze—his words—made you melt right into his hands. 

“Is that so?” Your voice was a mere whisper as your hand trailed down his chest, lingering on the waistband of his pants before palming his hardened length with a ghost of a touch. 

Azriel groaned, his head falling against your shoulder. “Don’t tease me. Not tonight.” 

“Oh, I won’t,” you purred, stroking against his mental barrier.

When he let you in, you showed him exactly how the two of you were going to spend the rest of the night. 

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

You bit your lip, tossing more of your clothes out of your wardrobe and onto the floor of your bedroom as you dug around, searching for your journal. It wasn’t in the place you normally hid it, but that hadn’t been too concerning. You did often throw it about after writing in it for hours. But not being able to find it at all? That was a first.

“What are you looking for?”

You screeched, falling backwards onto your butt at the sudden voice. A masculine chuckle, accompanied with the scent of night-chilled mist and cedar flooded the room. You peered up to see Azriel hovering over you. You pouted at him and his antics. 

“It’s rude to just appear in a ladies room, you know,” you snipped, causing him to snort. “I’m looking for my journal. I can’t find it anywhere. Have you seen it?” 

Azriel shook his head, offering a hand to help you off the floor. “I didn’t even know you kept a journal. I can help you look.”

“No, it’s alright. I’m sure it’ll turn up.”

Before you could say another word, Azriel surged forward to kiss you. You let out a small gasp before giving yourself over to him. He kissed you with a familiar passion, bringing heat to your core and causing your heart to beat fiercely. 

 The kiss ended far too soon. 

“What was that for?” you panted. 

“Can’t I just kiss you?” 

You gave him a look that had his lips twitching. “Fine. Cassian needs help in Windhaven so I’m going to be gone for a few days. I wanted to see you before I left.” 

You frowned as he played with the straps of your dress, his eyes as pained as yours were at the thought of having to spend time away from each other. 

“Do you really have to go? Can’t Rhys go help him? He’s the High Lord, not you.”

Azriel pressed a kiss to your lips again, smiling. 

“Is someone going to miss me?” 

His eyes softened when the look on your face didn’t change. 

“It’s just for a few days, princess,” Azriel said. “I’ll be back before you know it.” 

“I suppose you don’t have a choice.” You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer. “Do I at least get more of a goodbye?” 

Azriel let out a small groan as your body pressed against his but to your displeasure, he merely kissed you on the forehead and stepped away. “I wish, princess, but your brother asked me to meet with him before I leave. I’m sorry.” 

“Why is he always getting in the way?” you grumbled, more to yourself than anything. 

Azriel placed a hand on your cheek, his thumb brushing your skin. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I promise.” 

“Okay,” you sighed. “Be safe. I love you.”

“I love you too, Princess,” he murmured, giving you one last kiss before disappearing in a whirlwind of shadows. 

His scent trailed behind him…but then you stiffened, another lingering scent was attached to it. 

You sniffed the air.

Jasmine and Honey. 

Elain’s scent. 

Your heart dropped to your stomach. Why did he smell like Elain? Had he gone and said goodbye to her as well? Had he been with her before coming to see you? You could feel your blood rushing to your head and you forced yourself to calm down.

You sniffed the air again, only smelling his night-chilled mist and cedar this time. You let out a long breath, sitting down at the edge of your bed. Perhaps you had been mistaken. Perhaps your own insecurities were making you paranoid. 

But something awful curled in your stomach.

And a feeling of dread rushed through you.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

You busied yourself while Azriel was away. It had only been a day so far, but you already missed him so much. You had buried yourself in reports from the Court of Nightmares and correspondence from Eris. But still, nothing could fully distract you from your thoughts. 

You kept going back to that scent in your room. 

Had you made that up?

But why? Why would you do that to yourself? You hadn’t even been thinking of Elain. You wrestled with the idea that maybe Azriel had seen Elain before you, to tell her he was leaving. They were friends, after all. It could be something harmless.

But that night kept flashing behind your eyes every time you shut them. Elain on the counter, her dress pushed up to her thighs, Azriel between them, as they ravishingly kissed each other. Elain and Azriel at the dinner table, her hand on his bicep as he made her laugh. 

It made you feel sick to your stomach.

The words on the parchment you were reading blurred together and you set it aside with a sigh. 

You were overthinking things. Azriel had told you time and time again that he wanted to be with you. That he’s always wanted to be with you and it was your own brother that had kept him away.

You dropped your head down on your desk, sucking in air. You were just being paranoid. You were letting your insecure feelings get in your head. Azriel wanted you. Azriel wanted only you. He loved you. He always had…

Right?

A giggle in the corridor outside your door caught your attention. You sat up straight, recognizing it to be Elain’s. You froze for a second before quietly getting up and walking to your door, pressing your ear against the cold wood.

Another giggle, a bit further down the hallway this time. 

You slowly pushed the door open a crack, peering into the dark corridor. Another giggle and the sound of someone shushing another. A streak of golden-brown hair slipping around the corner. Azriel’s scent wafted through the space and your stomach turned over.

You stepped into the now quiet hallway, following after the sound of Elain’s giggles and Azriel’s scent. 

He was supposed to be in Windhaven. Why was he here? And why was here with Elain in the middle of the night? Your heart was pounding in your chest. You felt like throwing up. But you pushed yourself to follow despite your better judgment. 

A door around the corner slammed shut and you could hear the sound of rustling clothes. Tears pricked your eyes and you darted forward now, pushing the door open.

Your breath caught in your throat at the sight of the empty room. You blinked once. Twice. You couldn’t hear Elain’s giggle anymore, couldn't scent Azriel either. 

Had you imagined all of that? 

You rubbed at your eyes, exhaustion settling into your body. Gods, you were going crazy. The lack of sleep was finally getting to you. That was the only logical explanation you could give yourself. You left the room and returned to your own. 

Just a few more days. 

A few more days and Azriel would be home. 

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

The next two days passed in a blur.

You had a stack of reports in your arms as you made your way towards your brother’s office, ready to deliver them. You had been staying in the Townhouse the past few nights, needing space away from Elain–hoping it would make your delusions go away.

It wasn’t her fault that you were going crazy, wasn’t her fault that your own brother had pushed Azriel away from you all those years. You didn’t want to take it out on her, so you figured you’d just remove yourself from the Riverhouse until Azriel returned. 

You were passing by a closed off room when a familiar voice made you stop in your tracks.

“Fuck, Elain,” Azriel moaned. “You feel so good.”

You shook your head but the sound of two people panting didn’t go away. You froze, just like last time, squeezing your eyes shut, hoping it would go away. You were truly going crazy. You had to be. 

“Gods,” Elain panted. “Please, Azriel, don’t stop.” 

Your eyes shot open as your heart dropped to your stomach once more. That feeling of dread came again as bile rose up in the back of your throat. You put your hand against the door, slowly pushing it open, praying that you would be met with the sight of an empty room just like last time. 

You choked silently on your breath as you peered into the room through the crack in the door. Your hand shot to your mouth as the sight of Azriel and Elain came into view. You blinked once. Twice.

It didn’t go away.

There was Azriel, holding Elain against the wall, her legs wrapped around his waist as they kissed. Your heart snapped into a million pieces, your eyes stinging with tears that had started falling. 

What the fuck? 

How…How could he do this?

They pulled away from each other and Azriel rested his forehead against hers. 

“How much longer must you pretend to be interested in Rhys’s sister?” Elain asked, closing her eyes. “I’m tired of hiding, Azriel. I don’t care what Rhys thinks. I want the whole court to know how much we love each other.”

“It’s better this way for now, Elain. If Rhys is suspicious of me messing around with his sister, then he will take the news of us together more lightly. He’ll be relieved it's not her I’m after. Hell, he’ll probably throw us a wedding himself.” 

Elain giggled, pecking his lips. “I just hate watching her pine after you. It’s a little sad, honestly. You’d think she would’ve moved on after all this time.”

“I know,” Azriel agreed. “But it’ll be worth it. I promise you.” 

You couldn’t bear to hear anymore. You silently took a step back, closing the door as softly as you could. You felt your vision go in and out of focus as you forced your legs to keep moving.

Azriel…Azriel had been using you this whole time? He had been wanting your brother to think he had moved on from Elain to you in hopes that your brother would be outraged by the thought, leading him to be relieved that it was still Elain he desired, not you. 

You wanted to throw up.

Wanted to scream at the top of your lungs.

You…Gods, you were such an idiot. You had believed every single thing Azriel had said to you. Had never doubted him until these past few days. 

No. No….you couldn’t…you couldn’t do this. You were going to be sick. 

You were walking still, not even sure where your legs were taking you. You wanted to winnow to Illyria and throw yourself off a cliff, wanted to curl up in a ball in your room and cry, wanted to…Gods, you needed to get away. Needed to get the hell out of here.

“Dove? Are you alright?”

You blinked, your vision coming back into focus to realize you had walked to your brother’s office—your mind likely on autopilot. His violet eyes were staring at you with concern, tracking the tears falling from your eyes.

The reports fell from your hand, scattering to the floor. Rhys rose from his desk, striding over to you quickly. A sob escaped your lips as he grabbed you by the arms, shaking you a bit.

“Dove, what happened? What’s going on? Why are you crying?” 

The words began spilling out of your mouth before you could stop them.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

Azriel was seated at the kitchen table in Rhys’s family cabin, across from Cassian who looked as miserable as he did. It had been a long day of dealing with Devlon and the other Illyrians. 

A shadow curled over his ear.

The High Lord approaches. He is angry with you, master. 

Azriel swallowed audibly as a wave of darkness overtook the cabin, Rhys stepped out of it looking like a prince from hell, his violet eyes set on him with a burning rage.

Azriel knew the moment he saw Rhys what this was about. He had finally figured it out. He finally knew what was going on between him and his sister. That was the only reason he could think of. 

“Azriel!” The High Lord growled, causing Cassian to jump to his feet, his brows furrowed with confusion. “I’m going to fucking kill you.”

Azriel braced himself but didn’t move. He deserved Rhys’s wrath. He knew he did. 

Rhys tackled him, splintering the wooden chair into pieces as the two males landed on the hard ground. Cassian shouted at them to stop but Rhys began to pummel Azriel with his fists.

Azriel didn’t bother fighting back. He just laid on the ground, letting Rhys beat him even as he began to spit up blood. 

He always knew this day would come. Knew that he deserved to be beaten into an inch of life for what he had done. He had taken something as pure and good as y/n and fully corrupted her, marked her, ruined her. 

He had never deserved to lay his hands on her perfect skin, her perfect body. Not when his hands were so flawed. Not when his hands had done such terrible things. 

Suddenly, Rhys was being yanked off of him by Cassian. Rhys growled at his other brother, trying to push him away but Cassian held strong.

“Azriel, get the fuck up,” Cassian grunted. “Why the fuck didn’t you try to fight back?”

Azriel stood, slowly, wiping a hand at the blood that was beginning to dribble down his chin. He spat out more blood, already feeling the bruising that was going to be scattered all over his jaw.

“Because he knows he deserves it,” Rhys snapped. “You fucking piece of shit! I trusted you! I fucking let you into my home, took care of you like a brother, and this is how you repay me?! I swear to the Gods if you don’t get out of my way, Cassian—”

“Stop!” Cassian shouted. “What the fuck is going on? What the fuck happened?”

“Tell him, Azriel, tell him what you’ve done! Tell him how you’ve been messing around with my little sister behind my back!”

Cassian’s eyes widened, his head whipping back and forth behind his brothers. “Rhys, calm down. I don’t know who you heard that from but that can’t be true. Right, Az? I mean, fuck, the bargain we have wouldn’t even—”

“It’s true, Cassian,” Azriel cut him off. “It’s true. Let him go. I deserve this. I fucked up.” 

“Azriel,” Cassian murmured in disbelief, his eyes full of disappointment. Azriel couldn’t bear the sight of it. 

“You’re fucking sick, Azriel,” Rhys growled. “You held her as a baby! You watched her grow up for fucks sake! I thought I could trust you!”

“Oh fuck you, Rhys,” Azriel said, baring his teeth at the other male. “Don’t make this into something it’s not. I love her! I fucking love her, alright! I always have! And you knew it! That’s why you made us make that fucking bargain with you in the first place!”

“Oh you love her?” Rhys snapped, sarcastically. “You love her so much, huh? Is that why she’s in her room crying over you right now? Is that why you fucking used her to get back at me for telling you to stay away from Elain? I’m going to fucking rip your throat out!”

He lurched forward again, but Cassian took the brunt of his weight, holding him off. 

Azriel froze, utterly bewildered.

“Az…what is he talking about? What does he mean you’ve been using y/n?”

“I don’t know,” Azriel spat. “I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about, Rhys. I’m not using y/n and I never even wanted Elain. I was trying to move on from…from loving your sister for gods’ sake.”

Rhys laughed bitterly. “If that’s so, then tell me why my sister came crying to me a few hours ago after catching you and Elain fucking each other?!”

“What!” Cassian swiveled to look at Azriel again. But Azriel looked as shocked as he did. 

“What the fuck are you talking about, Rhys? I’ve been here all day with Cassian. I don’t want Elain and I certainly wouldn’t be using your sister to get with her!”

“You’re a fucking liar, Azriel! She showed me what she saw, you prick! Cass, you better fucking let me go—”

“He’s not lying, Rhys,” Cassian interjected. “He really has been here with me all day. I don’t think he’s left my sight once. You can go into my mind and look, but I swear it. If…if what you’re saying is true, then I’ll fucking help you kick Azriel’s ass but I think there’s some miscommunication here.”

“Y/n is in her room crying…because she thinks I’ve been using her? I don’t… I wouldn’t,” Azriel murmured, mostly to himself. “I need to go see her.”

“If you move a single muscle, I swear I’ll tear your mind apart, Azriel,” Rhys yelled. “Don’t you dare even think about seeing her right now! You have no idea what you’ve caused!”

“Rhys, I swear on my life that I haven’t touched Elain since winter solstice! And I would never use your sister. I love her! She’s all that matters to me! I need to go to her. I don’t know what she saw but it wasn’t me!”

“Rhys, please, listen to him. I know you’re upset, I am too, but come on, you know Azriel. Does this really seem like something he would do?”

“I saw her memory of it, Cass. I saw him fucking Elain! I saw him talking about using her!”

Azriel stepped forward, glaring. “I haven’t fucked Elain and I wouldn’t, ever! I don’t understand…I’ve been here with Cass all day.”

“He really has, Rhys. There’s got to be something else going on here…I don’t know what y/n thinks she saw or heard, but it wasn’t Azriel.”

Rhys cursed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I need to get home. I need to get to the bottom of this. But this is not over, Azriel! Even if you didn’t use her or cheat on her! You should’ve never even put your hands on her in the first place!”

“Alright, that’s enough!” Cassian pushed him back. “One thing at a time. I think finding out why y/n saw what she did is more important right now!”

Rhys glared at Cassian but backed off. He shot Azriel another scathing look before disappearing into the darkness, winnowing away.

“I need to go, Cass. I need to see her, need to tell her that whatever she saw wasn’t true. I don’t care if you hate me now too, but I won’t let you stop me from going to her.”

“I don’t hate you, Az, but fuck, what were you thinking? I warned you not to hurt his sister,” Cassian sighed, before holding a hand out. “Take me with you.”

Azriel grabbed Cassian’s hand before shadow walking to the River House. The foyer came into view a second later.

Feyre was there examining Rhys’s bloodied knuckles. She peaked over at them as they appeared, her eyes widening as she caught sight of Azriel’s face.

“I tracked down Elain,” Feyre spoke. “She wasn’t even here this morning. She spent the night at Lucien’s apartment.”

She whispered the last part, glancing at Azriel but he wasn’t even paying attention. His eyes were on the staircase that led to Rhys’s sister’s room. He needed to get to her, needed to make sure she knew whatever she had seen wasn’t real.

“Don’t even think about it,” Rhys snapped, his violet eyes glaring into Azriel. “Mor is with her right now. You stay down here, in my sight, until this is dealt with! Don’t think this has absolved you of anything.”

“Rhys, stop,” Feyre barked. “Now is not the time. Can you remember what your sister showed you? Was there anything weird about the memory?”

Rhys let out a frustrated breath. “No—I don’t know. I was too angry to even think.”

“Well, we need to go talk to her,” Feyre said. “Have her show you the memory again. I don’t know how but someone must’ve planted it or something.”

“Why would someone do that?” Cassian questioned. “Who knew that her and Azriel even had a thing together and would try and get in between it?”

Azriel was stewing in his own thoughts, pacing in front of the fireplace. He couldn’t stand this. Couldn’t stand knowing you were upset thinking he had cheated on you and used you for Elain. 

“Azriel,” Rhys barked. “Did anyone else know about the two of you? You better be fucking honest or I swear—”

“You’re not being helpful by being angry right now, Rhys,” Feyre cut in.

Azriel racked his brain for anyone who might have known they were together. They had been careful but there was one person…

“Cedric,” Azriel answered. “Cedric knew we were together. He knew she turned down his proposal because of me.”

“The Prince?” Cassian asked. 'Wait, you and y/n have been seeing each other since you traveled to the continent?"

"Cassian, not the time," Feyre snarled again.

Azriel could tell Rhys’s mind was racing with his thoughts and he too, paced back and forth. 

“Fuck,” Rhys suddenly cursed loudly, causing Feyre to jump. “The Prince…his family’s magic specializes in illusions. Could he have…but how? Why?”

“Maybe he’s upset she rejected him,” Feyre suggested. “You need to go talk to her. You need to look into that memory again, see if you can poke through it.”

“He can’t talk to her,” Mor said, walking down the stairs and drawing everyone’s attention. “She left for the continent an hour ago. I was packing some of her stuff for her to send over.”

“What? You let her leave?” Rhys shouted. “Where did she go?”

Mor narrowed her eyes at him. “I didn’t let her do anything. She’s a grown female, Rhys. She went to Vallahan. I guess Prince Cedric said his doors were always open for her and she wanted to get away.”

Rhys cursed again. “No, no! Fuck, Mor! You had one fucking job! Not to let her out of your sight!”

“Well, sorry! I didn’t know we were considering the possibility that someone has been making her see things! She wanted to go and I wasn’t going to stop her.”

“We need to go,” Feyre interjected. “If it is the Prince who caused all of this, then who knows what he’ll do to her now that she’s back over there! He might manipulate her into marrying him.”

“Everyone needs to calm down,” Cassian said. “I have a question. So maybe the Prince knows about her and Azriel, but that doesn’t explain how he knew the background between Azriel and Elain.”

Something clicked in Azriel’s head. “Her journal. Fuck, her journal has been missing. He must’ve stolen it when we were at his castle. You said she left an hour ago, Mor?”

Mor nodded, her mouth in a tight line. 

“Shit. That means she’s probably there already,” Azriel growled. “I’m going. I’m leaving right now and I’m going to get her back.”

“No you’re not,” Rhys ordered. “I’ll go and bring her back.”

“We can all go,” Feyre snapped. “Go get in your fighting gear just in case. We’ll meet back here in fifteen minutes so we can go save y/n from that Prince.”

Azriel didn’t need to be told twice.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

You brushed your tears away, not wanting anyone to see you had been crying. The castle came into view and you hurried forward, eager to get inside and away from watchful eyes. 

You had written a quick letter to Cedric asking if you could visit and he had readily replied with a yes. You needed to get out of the Night Court, needed to get as far away from Azriel as you could.

Your heart was broken, snapped into a million pieces. Your throat was hoarse from sobbing the past few hours. Your entire world had collapsed and you had never felt such despair.

The castle doors finally came into sight, a group of soldiers standing guard with Cedric. He smiled brightly at you as you walked forward.

“Princess! I wasn’t expecting you to be back so soon,” he greeted. “Please, come inside!”

You greeted him with a smile, scurrying inside the castle. You turned to face him. “Thank you for letting me come on such short notice, Cedric. I—”

“Seize her.”

Your eyebrows furrowed at his words, at the coldness in his tone. Before you could react, the soldiers surged forward and grabbed you by the arms. You let out a scream, trying to wiggle from their hold as they snapped a pair of faebane handcuffs around your wrists.

“Cedric! What—what are you doing? Let me go!”

Cedric gave you a menacing smile. “You know, I thought this might take a little longer, getting you to come back here. Who knew your insecurities about the shadowsinger ran so deep? I’ll have to send him a thank you after all of this.”

“What are you talking about? Why…unhand me, now! This is…Cedric, what is this? Let me go!”

The soldiers dragged you forward as Cedric stood in front of the doors, hands behind his back looking quite pleased with himself. “Oh no, there is someone very important I need you to meet.”

He grabbed you by the upper arm and a second later, the familiar feeling of winnowing whisked you away.

You landed on soft ground, right beside a lake. Your eyes widened on the shack that sat in the middle of it. 

“Cedric, please! Let me go!”

You tried to wiggle out of your restraints but the guards held you with unflinching strength. You let out a tiny scream as a figure emerged from the water. A figure made of smoke.

“Hello, Princess,” Koschei purred. “I’ve been waiting for you.” 

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

a/n: ooppp sorry for all the rage/upset I might've caused you with this one. The series is coming to a close though! Two more parts and an epilogue is what I have planned rn! Thank you guys for all your support!

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[ellievickstar]

Final Choice

A/N: So, I saw your guys making up ideas for this part…I must say. Some were happy, some just wanted Azriel to suffer…which one did I go with? Well…read to find out :) Also the beginning of this fic is in Rhys’s POV since Azzy and our dearest Y/N are kind unconscious

Summary: When then mating bond finally snaps into place, what are you meant to do when you realise your mate has another in his heart, will you break it off to save yourself, or will your mate be able to save this heartbreak?

Request: N/A

Pairing: Azriel x Witch!Reader

Warnings: Self-hate. Mostly written in Rhys's POV I thought it would be funny to see his monologue of things. confessions. Heartache.

~*~*~*~*~

Rhys’s POV

This was…unexpected. Not that it wasn’t out of character for Azriel or Y/N to end up sabotaging themselves instead of talking through their issues like normal adult faeries or witches. I shook my head as Nesta helped to break the shield around Y/N. Thankfully, for that spell to work, the witch casting it had to be able to stay awake the whole time, if not, the safety measure — that had been weaved into the ritual by Y/N’s mother — would kick in and stop all magic completely.

Both were alive and I breathed out a sigh of exasperation. Couldn’t they have waited until the morning to do something so extreme? I was pretty sure I was still hungover from drinking with Cassian and Azriel to distract one from worrying over the fact his mate hadn’t come home. He could feel her alive and well across the bond, but I suspected she needed space, so we made sure we drank him into literal oblivion.

If only I had known this was what she was doing….

I shook my head. No, this wasn’t my fault. Feyre had already been telling me to stop blaming myself for everything that happened to our friends, but hell, if I had let Azriel go after her then maybe they’d work through their feelings, if I had ordered him away from Elain when I first suspected that he was starting to hurt Y/N, maybe things would be different.

I heard my mate come up behind me, she glanced at the pair, shaking her head disappointed. it reminded me of my mother when she caught me trying to sneak out for a flight around Moonstone palace. Wrapping a wing around Feyre, I pulled her closer to me, making sure to drape an arm around her waist.

“Nyx is asleep again, he had quite a fright from all the screaming, but he’s alright now,” She murmured. I hummed as I watched Madja — her eyes looked as if she was going to kill both witch and Illyrian once they awoke — with the help of Nesta and Cassian, drag both unconscious bodies to separate rooms.

“Azriel is…a dumbass,” Amren said from beside us, Varian nodding from beside her. I had no clue where the latter had come from, but it was anyone’s guess what the two had been up to when the events earlier transpired. Feyre agreed with Amren, but I had a small inkling that she was being biased towards the witch she considered a sister. Smiling to myself, I let go of Feyre if only to pick up the worn out leather book that had been beside the symbol-spell-ritual, whatever the witches called it.

Flipping through the pages, I noted that there was no name on the book, but I was sure that this was a diary. There were personal accounts of someone’s life, while a few pages here and there were sketches of spells or instructions on witch magic. That’s when I came across a familiar name. This entry said:

‘Y/N is only five now. But, I can sense the war is coming…soon. I don’t know if I will survive. My Magic is growing weaker, Y/N is feeding off of it, but who could blame her? Especially…when she’s more powerful then any other witch in history. I don’t quite remember what her father was…but his name. I will never forget his name. My love. I miss my lover.

So this was her mother’s diary. Interesting indeed. I hummed carefully as I closed the book, all the information I needed was inside. All I needed to do now was get a hold of that sand that was used in Y/N’s rituals. “Feyre darling, how would you like to speak to the dead?”

~*~*~*~*~

Y/N’s POV

“Why do you love him, Y/N?” You closed your eyes as the question rang through you. “In all of my lonely nights, when I was a ghost inside, he was there for me. Whenever I drank too much, whenever my eyes cried floods, he would be there for me, he’d listen. He made my demons go away, he would clear the darkness, he was there for me. He was there when I lost faith, he was there through every heartbreak. And I’d do the same for him,” You admitted.

Your ancestor smiled at you. “My dearest child, you can’t see it can you?” “See what? I love him. I love him I love him I love him. But I don’t understand if he loves me? When I look at him and her I can’t help but wonder ‘what about us’? what about all the times we spent together? What about all the times he said he would have the answer for me? What about all the moments we shared, what about all the disastrous pranks, plating footsie under the table, laughing together under the night sky during Starfall? What about love? What about trust, what about us?” Tears began to fill your eyes. You didn’t understand anymore. You were so sure that breaking the mating bond was the answer, but when you did you felt it, that love for you, but you also felt that love he had for her. Her.

You couldn’t put it into words. How you felt that roar of love for you, but there was that spark, there was something that kept him from loving your completely. And you didn’t understand. What happened to promises of forever, what happened to ‘whatever end’? What happened to the both of you. You wanted to cry, you wanted to scream at him, wanted to let this pain, this confusion out. You couldn’t help but feel so alone. What happened to the times you stuck around with him even when everyone blamed him for something went wrong. What happened to the times you would listen to him for hours as he croie down because of nightmares? What happened to the times you’d soothe him, even if it was the latest hours?

Your heart was breaking and there was nothing you could do about it. You had no way of knowing whether he truly loved you. How could you believe anything he said? After all the times you had to watch as he fell over himself because of Morrigan. After all the times he practically ogled at the youngest Archeron. Would there ever be a day you would find piece within your relationship? Your heart was bleeding and no amount of stitches or bandaids could stop it. You bit the back of you closed fist as you sobbed. “I can’t do this anymore…please,”

“I will always be here for you, you may summon me whenever you wish, not just in your dreams, child. But even if there are times you can’t bring yourself to call me, just look to the moon. It will shine the same wherever you are, and I’ll be here as you search for the light,” She bent to your height as she gently took your hands. Her fingers lightly brushed against your cheeks. “It doesn’t matter what he decides, in the end, you are still the most powerful queen of witches there has ever been,” You nodded, but something in you wanted to know more. But before you could ask anything, she had already disappeared, leaving you alone in the endless darkness of your own mind.

~*~*~*~*~

Rhys’s POV

Getting ahold of the sand as a fae, was hard. We visited six different merchants all selling witch’s tools before finally we met a merchant that could sell us the sand. Feyre had gasped when she hear the price, but to me it felt like I had barely scratched the surface of my account, Feyre called me entitled when I said that to her. (A/N: we love rich Rhys)

Okay…so the book says to pour the sand on the ground in this shape. Feyre held out a hand and I was confused at first before she rolled her eyes and said, “You’ll get it wrong, plus, I paint, so I have steadier hands then you,” I wanted to scoff but she was right. She was better suited doing this. Especially with those hands that were basically built for painting and good artwork.

After the...spell? Ritual? Magic Shape? - I'll have to ask Y/N - was complete, I opened the diary and chanted the words that was written. Light magic seemed to burst from the sand was it began to glow. Feyre squinted her eyes against te bright light while poor me had to keep on reading the book.

And as the light finally began to dull down I looked up, and smiled.

"Your majesty," I purred as I bowed to the hooded figure before me. Feyre looked confused at first, but as the woman lifted her head and smiled down at us, she froze and curtsied.

"No need for that High Lord and Lady of the Night Court, though, I did wonder when you would finally call. It seems my daughter has gotten into a bit of trouble, hasn't she?" I nodded, rising to face her. She was as elegant as I remember, clad in white as flowers were weaved through her thick curls. Unlike Y/N's near-straight brown hair, hers was dark and black as a crow's feathers. She held her head high with an air of grace as her crown signalled to all who she truly was, the hood she had previously cloaked herself with melting away.

The late Queen of Witches. Y/N's mother.

"Well to be quite clear, your daughter is an absolute joy and she will make a wonderful king. But unfortunately, we do have a few questions, concerning the spell that breaks the mating bond," She nodded, wanting me to continue. "I can sense it...I can still smell the connection between them and even as they shut me out of their minds their souls still seemed to be intertwined. So if that spell didn't break the bond, what exactly did it do?"

She hummed, considering my question carefully, thinking silently to herself before nodding as if agreeing to something. "I cannot tell you much, High Lord, but what I can tell you, is that what is that both of them are the key to what holds them back. Not one, but both," I wanted to ask her more. Beg her for answers if it meant saving my two friends, but without a word she had vanished, the spell had given out. I had no skill of my own to be able to maintain the line of communication between us and the afterlife, I couldn't redo the spell. I didn't know how to save my friends from themselves.

~*~*~*~*~

Y/N POV

Blinking away the darkness you were greeted to a warm sight, with shadows creeping across the ceiling, and a shadow singer sitting close to your bed, his arms crossed, fury was clear as day, stricken across his face.

"Why would you do that?" you sat up, trying to understand his question. All you remembered was the pain...the ritual...the mating bond! You reached out to that tether you used to feel and as I realised it was still there my heart sank. "I- I didn't think you truly wanted me as a mate," You blurted out as you silently arose from your bed.

"What must I do to make you understand? I want to be with you!" He tried to approach you, but you raised a hand and he stopped. "Why? Because of this- this cauldron forsaken mating bond? Because you feel some nobility some honour saying that you chose to be with your mate!? You didn't even want to be with me. Even before, you were going to leave me, now the only difference is that your soul is bound to me and even then everything you do is just-" He let go of an exasperated breath as he listened to you rattle on.

"What can I do? I told you I love you but it seems everything I do is some scheme or because I feel pity for you. Have I hurt you so much that you cannot bring yourself to believe that every single thing I do is insincere," He paused, breathing heavily as he stepped towards you. "I don't know what else to say, what to do. I'm sorry. I love you. I wish I could take everything back. But don't walk away from me. Hit me, tear me apart, give me new scares to carry the shame for the rest of my life. Break my heart, break it a thousand times over, it was only yours to break anyways. But stay with me. Please," You didn't know what to do, and as his hands finally reached you, red hot magic seemed to burn between you as you gasped and he hissed, pulling away.

What in the name of the mother? You blinked as the red print of magic from his had seemed to fade away slowly from my skin. That was...how. Looking back at Azriel you tried to recall what you had read about the ritual. When it failed it would create a shield between both mates so that the ritual would not be tried again. The only way to break this spell was...you shook your head and sobbed into the back of your fist as you made a terrible realisation.

"The book- 'This wall shall only be destroyed if both souls accept their own and each others truest emotions for each other. Only then will they come together.'" Tears streamed down your face, you had been so stupid. So, so stupid. And now it was hurting Azriel. You felt so stupid, and angry.

You tried to sit back down, but you completely missed the bed and tumbled to the floor, Azriel unable to do anything as he stared at his own hands, shock still written in his features.

This was bad.

"I see you both have finally awoken. And now we know what the little spell did," Rhysand spoke up. You whipped your head to the door and there he stood. Feyre smiling as she waved to you, happy that you hadn't killed yourself on accident yet. "The spell shouldn't exist. I have accepted that Azriel will never love me, and he has accepted that I will always love him, even if it tears me apart inside, even if it has nearly killed me...several times," You said. Azriel shook his head as he buried his face in his hands, and Rhys seemed to frown.

The High Lord and High Lady said nothing in response, only opting to pat Azriel on the back as they left. You didn't understand. You had to be right. There was no way that Azriel loved you, right?

No. These hopeful thoughts would only harm you. You mustn't think too much of what ifs. That's when Azriel finally spoke. "I swear to you, I will spend the rest of my time here making up for everything I did. I can't excuse how I've hurt you, but I will try to fix this. I will court you how I should have, love you until you can see, and I will wait for you, everyday," Gazing up into his brown eyes, ones that were usually piercing and intimidating now soft and sincere. You smiled as a small piece of you heart began to believe that maybe, this could be real, allowing you to make, this final choice.

"Okay."

~*~*~*~*~

A/N: I decided to stop torturing you guys. I love all of you <3333 my bestest babes. I will be doing bonuses if anyone has any requests, but this marks the end of the choice series. I know this is abit rushed but it's been dragged on for so long and I didn't want the series to be long either. Also because I think you guys kinda deserve a happy ending. I love you <33

taglist: @azriels-mate123 @penguinsworldsblog @hannahx1111 @jacksonpleasestopkillingme @positivewitch @happyseadreams @fuckthatfeeling @meritxellao @xiangping-28 @clarkie-carmody-blog @aroseinvelaris @azrielhours @shadowsinger-654 @azzydaddy @nisa-wisa @cosmic-whispers @cat-or-kitten @thecraziestcrayon @thegirlintheshadows101 @marina468 @act1839 @bigcreatorwombatdreamer @holywolfsstuff @gengen64 @goldenmagnolias @tobifeemo @readerworld22 @cyrygher @shisingh @txzii @antisentimentalus @t0uch-starved-h0e

(If your user is in bold I could not tag you, sorry T^T if you want to be tagged please specify in the replies <3)

[druidonity2]

hey you wanna hear another fanfic idea (based on an old doodle) i'll probably never write ok here it goes-

(What if, in her dying breath, Onyxia split Anduin into two, and nothing Varian tries is putting his son back together.)

Varian was able to fuse back together, but to his surprise, he found two boys where one once was. In her final moment, to further soe chaos and seek revenge, Onyxia channelged her power into the boy. And despite their attempts, they cannot get the boys back to one. (They try and use shalamayne, but really they can’t fully recreate Varian’s rejoining, for it would threaten the boys’ health and saftey. They spend the next year trying to locate any magic users who could help, but unwilling to risk their lives, there isnt much they can do. They must be raised as twins.)

Ann and Dulin are identical as young kids, and seem very happy with eachother, and it almost seems like they are better off now that Anduin isn’t really an only child. But then, as they enter their teens, a distinction between the two forms, and it slowly becomes clear that they are halves of a single soul. And their flaws are ever stronger for it. That they arn’t balanced. 

(-Little moments as the boys grow up, playing together, learning together, etc.

-Varian hoping at least one picks up the sword, but so far both boys are awful. He struggles, but is reminded they are the same person, of course if one cant do something the other cant either. 

-they both shared an interest in light, and learned fast bouncing practice off eachother. Both learn under Velen.)

Ann and Dulin are priests, but Ann is more rebellious and runs away more, and is more open to voicing his opinion, even at the wrong times. Dulin is much more clinging to rules and professionalism, and is quiet and more hiding of his voice, preferring to listen. They bicker more, disagree, and it slowly reminds Varian of his struggle as he and Lo’gosh could not come to agreements despite being one person. And he fears that as they age, Ann and Dulin will further be torn apart.

It does happen, when Ann and Dulin get into an argument, and Dulin uses shadow. 

-

MoP is Ann and Dulion getting shipwrecked. Despite his interests in Pandaria Dulin wants to go home as soon as the Alliance finds them, but Ann refuses too, and so Dulin follows along. Ann is the one to confront Garrosh, and Dulin is the one to get him help.

After the Bell scene.

Ann nearly died, and while Dulin didn’t get hurt, it seems he’s fallen ill too. He’s fine, up until he faints infront of everyone. Confused, someone reminds Varian, “They are not complete people. They are halves of a single individual, and that brings with it consequences. They were never meant to grow up apart, their souls are joined and that greatly effects their mind and bodies. I suspect if Ann had died, Dulin would’ve passed away soon after. If you lose one, you lose them both.” 

“When you were two, one half was a spineless noble easily charmed by wealth and beauty. The other half was an angry warrior, hot headed and unwilling to listen to opposition. Apart, you were two deeply flawed people who could not agree on anything, and you came close to killing yourself, until one made a sacrifice for the other. It was only because you shared a son did you come to terms with one another.” “I believe having the boys raised together is partly the reason they still get along, but they are very different from one another, and their lives would be better if they were joined again.”

Wrathion believes he knows how to rejoin the twins, and Dulin seeks that help, even behind Ann’s back. (It does not work).

(war crimes scene where Anduin holds his AU self as he dies, only in this fic it is Ann and Dulin watching an au version of Anduin die, seeing what they would look and act like if they were one person, as they should be. This event deeply effects them, acting as a constant reminder that their fractured existance is wrong)

-

-Because of their bickering, it's decided one will take the throne and the other remains prince. Dulin takes the throne, which is actually one of the only things the two agree on, for Ann dislikes the restrictions the title of King would place upon him. Ann still does work for Dulin, represents him in meetings he cant go too, etc, especially durring war, but still runs off sometimes.

-Dulin is taken by Sylvanas to the Shadowlands, and it is Ann who demands to go to find his twin. He felt the moment Dulin crossed into the veil, He feels the moment his twin is corrupted, and feels his soul aching. If Dulin dies so will Ann, and Ann can feel his brother's soul weaken by the day.

-JAILER RAID SCENE but Ann runs into the black smoke, Sylvanas cannot stop him in time- Ann embraces his brother, and a rush of energy envelopes the area. Sylvanas believes it to be the bomb, but as the smoke clears and they live, a single man is left in the middle-

Ann and Dulin fused back together.

the end.

-

Epliogue:

Anduin, newly rejoined into one person, disappears for several years in order to 'find himself', soul searching or whatever. Now that he is one person, who is he really? Who does he want to be? How does he cope with his past truamas was one person, when half of him experienced things differently?

Epilogue explores how Anduin honestly still feels like two people in one body, that being fully one in heart and mind may be truely impossible, but as time passes, years go by, it seems that healing truely may be possible.

[rocksandrobots]

PotP Ch 54 - Christmas With The Krampus: Part 3

"Hey, thanks for helping out on such short notice," Tadashi said.

"Oh no problem, buddy." Fred's voice came over the phone. "Minimax and I were getting bored anyway. Christmas is never as big a deal as Hanukkah at my house. The only thing going on is the neighborhood lights display contest."

"Your Mom's in full-blown socialite mode?" Tadashi asked, already knowing the answer.

"Totally. Monster hunting is way more fun than tea and crumpets."

"There's no monster, Fred," Varian yelled over Tadashi's shoulder into the phone.

"Just let us know if you or Minimax see Vigor," Hiro added, ignoring his brother.

"Ten-four!... or is it four-ten... Either way, MiniMax and Fredzillia are on the job!"

Tadashi hung up the phone as the three of them entered the near-empty shopping mall.

Most of the storefronts were closed, only a handful of people roamed the food court, and a sign on the door said that the shopping center was operating at half-hours for the holiday. So they had only about an hour left to look for clues.

They made their way to the top floor, hoping that perhaps Vigor was just hiding inside, maybe wrecking one of the other window displays for the fun of it, only to have that hope dashed once they reached Canardist's emporium.

The door was ripped off its hinges and the inside of the shop was completely trashed.

"Still think there's no monster?" Hiro asked.

"Anyone could have done this," Varian replied, though with slightly less confidence than before.

Tadashi picked up a scroll off the floor and frowned. He couldn't read it.

"Varian, I think we need to keep more of an open mind here." He cautioned. "I mean, you and Canardist come from a world where fairy tale princesses are real and magical curses are a thing. Why can't this Krampus exist too?"

"Because..." Varian huffed but didn't finish his thought as he picked up an amulet hanging from a shelf. This one with Corona's royal seal on it.

"Because you don't wanna admit that you're wrong." Hiro finished for him.

Varian shot a glare at him, but couldn't deny it.

"What do you know about this Krampus? What do the legends actually say?" Tadashi asked.

Varian shrugged. "Not much. He's supposed to be Saint Nicholas's helper. While St Nick rewards good little kids with toys and sweets, the Krampus collects the souls of bad children and tortures them for their misdeeds."

He shook his head. "It's just a story parents tell their kids to get them to behave. Like with the Sandman who brings nightmares or Zhan Tiri and his shadow soldiers. None of it's real."

Hiro and Tadashi shared a look but didn't press for more details about the other horror stories that Varian had mentioned.

"Look, let's just run with the premise that all stories are based on a kernel of truth," Tadashi argued. "Like with Troy and the Iliad... exaggerated no doubt, but based off a real place and presumably a real war... With that being the case here, what would a real Krampus be like, you think?"

Varian gave the proposal some serious consideration. "Well, I guess... if he was real, he'd be some type of creature... just an animal."

"And what would a large wild animal do with a pet monkey?"

"Eat it," Hiro said, almost immediately. It was the most logical conclusion.

The other two boys grimaced.

The Varian shrugged again. "Well, nasty way to go, but what can you do? Who wants to break the bad news to Canardist?"

Tadashi stopped him from walking away. "Hold on. We can't just let a six-foot animal run around the city eating people's pets, and possibly attacking people themselves."

"How did he even get into this world?" Hiro asked.

"That would be a question for Canardist," Tadashi answered. "In the meantime, we have to hunt down this Krampus and capture it."

"And what do we do with it after we've caught it?" Varian asked. "I can't send it back. The portal isn't working the way I need it to."

"We'll figure that out once we find it... the only question is, how do we find it?"

"I have a bio-reading of the creature," Baymax responded.

"Really? How did you get that?" Hiro asked.

"It is shedding." The robot pointed at the floor and indeed there was hair everywhere.

"Great work Baymax.' Tadashi patted his creation on the shoulder. "Let's go suit up."

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

"Behold!" Minimax pointed down below into an alley, "There goes our psychic primate pal!"

Fred followed his faithful sidekick's finger and sure enough, spotted the chimpanzee running frantically down the road.

"Hey guys!" came Fred's voice over the intercom. "We found Vigor!"

"He's still alive?' Varian asked skeptically, as he held onto Baymax's arm tighter. The robot was carrying all three of them as they flew through the air, with Hiro and Tadashi riding on top and Varian cradled in his arms; having lost at rock, paper, scissors.

"Not for long," Hiro replied as he studied the scans through his helmet interface. A red dot was racing across the city map. "Whatever it is that tore up the store is heading straight your way Fred... and it's fast."

"Don't worry. We're on it." Fred assured them and was gone.

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

The superheroes found poor Vigor cowering in the corner of an alley.

"Hey buddy, it's okay." Fred coaxed the frightened animal. "You're safe now."

"Yes, no fiendish foe will do you harm while we're around," Minimax added.

The chimp came out of hiding and cooed in recognition when he realized who the armored men were.

He waddled over and hugged Hiro around his legs. A predicament that Hiro absolutely was not comfortable with.

"Yeah, th-that's right... we're here to take you home." He awkwardly said as he tried to gently pry the monkey off of him.

That's when an ominous shadow fell across them.

Everyone turned as one to see the Krampus snarling at them.

It was a towering nine-foot-tall, from its claws on its hind legs to the tips of the horns on its head. It was covered head to toe in dark fur and its bottom jaw had two protruding tusks. It slobbered drool as it growled like a dog, and Hiro could have sworn that its eyes glowed red.

Vigor howled in fright and quickly scrambled away and up the side of the building before anyone could stop him.

The monster took after him just as quickly.

The boys could feel the wind rush past them as the creature leaped up towards the roof, like how a car whizzing by might blow away the papers in your hand.

"Ok... take note... the Krampus moves very fast," Tadashi said, pointing out the obvious as everyone else stood there stunned.

Hiro shook out of his stupor first.

"Quick Baymax, after them."

He hopped onto the robot's back just as Fred swung himself up onto the roof. Minimax wasn't far behind as they rocketed into the air themselves.

"Do you see where they're heading?" Varian's voice came in over the intercom.

"I've already lost sight of them," Fred replied.

"They've turned down 2nd Market St." Baymax calmly stated.

Hiro followed Baymax's finger and his heart sank as something large and furry ducked into the subway.

"Oh no."

"What's happened?" Tadashi asked.

"They just went into Memento station."

"Don't worry, we'll head them off," Varian answered as he fished the portal magnets from his coat.

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

Varian and Tadashi exited the portal just in time to see everyone rushing towards the nearest exit, screaming and panicking as they went.

In the middle of the waiting platform, now on all fours and sniffing the ground with its pig-like snout, was the Krampus. It seemed totally disinterested in the frightened crowd as it poked about the various discarded presents and groceries.  

"Soooo...what do we do now?" Tadashi asked as they watched the beast get a pair of candy cane-printed boxers caught on its nose. It took a second to shake the offending underwear off before it went to gnawing on the wrapping paper that it had been packaged in.

"Well.... umm..." Varian's mind raced as he tried to rationalize the impossibility before him. "it's... it's an animal, right?

"R-right?" Tadashi agreed, unsure what Varian was getting at.

"So how would you capture a really large animal?"

"No clue," Tadashi replied, never taking his eyes off the monster as it now decided to eat a forgotten Christmas ham.

"Well how would, like, the rangers catch a bear or a lion?"

"Tranquilizers, but we haven't any-"

Varian snapped his fingers. "Sleeping powder!"

He then started to search his pockets and harness... only to slow down as he realized that Tadashi was right. "I'm out of sleeping powder..."

That's when the Krampus finally took notice of them.

Both boys gulped as the creature let out a snarl.

Varian began to scour his pockets even more frantically. "H-hold him off while I try to make a new batch of sleeping potion."

"What am I supposed to do? Wave a red flag at him like a bullfighter?"

Varian didn't answer as he screwed the top off a chimball full of blue liquid.

You could not see his eyes behind his visor, but it was clear that Tadashi was rolling them as he pressed a button on the side of his helmet and disappeared from view.

This was enough of a surprise to slow the Krampus down, as it stopped stalking towards them.

A moment later a roll of sparkly red wrapping paper, discarded by its owner in their flight from the station, lifted itself off the ground and seemingly hung in the air as if by magic.

"Here boy, toro." Tadashi whistled as he waved the paper in front of the creature.

The Krampus howled and rushed towards the sparkly paper. Tadashi barely had time to move out of the way as it grabbed the cardboard tube and bounded away, ripping the paper to shreds in a frenzy.

"Well, there goes that idea."

"How's it going?" Hiro breathlessly asked as he, Fred, and the two robots finally ran inside.

The Krampus stopped immediately and focused its attention on the newcomers.

Heroes and monster eyed each other for only a moment as Hiro realized his mistake. Then the mass of fur and muscle was bounding towards them at top speed before Tadashi could even shout a warning.

Everyone scattered, only for the Krampus' jaws to clamp around Minimax's foot at the last second.

The robot yelled as the monster shook him back and forth before throwing him into the air. Fortunately, being a robot, he was only momentarily disoriented as opposed to being hurt.

While the heroes were busy checking over their friend, Vigor screeched wildly as the monster took chase after the monkey once more. 

"No!" Hiro screamed, too late, as the Krampus overtook the poor animal. 

The creature let out a victorious howl, and then, to everyone's astonishment, it gave Vigor a playful, sloppy lick of its tongue and bounded away barking. Vigor made a chittering sound, like the money equivalent of a laugh, and happily chased after the monster. 

"Awe, how cuuuuteee!" Fred squeed while everyone else stood there dumbfounded. "They've been playing tag this whole time." 

"It kind of acts like a giant dog," Hiro observed as he tilted his head in thought. 

"Wild dogs can still be dangerous though." Tadashi reminded him. "We need to capture him and take him someplace safe." 

"Got it!" Varian shouted triumphantly as he held up a chimball. Before he could throw the sleeping powder, however, the police barged into the station. 

"Chief Cruz!" Hiro rushed toward the lead officer in relief. "We need to find a humane way of cap-"

"We're already on it." Cruz interrupted, shoving him aside. "You kids need to clear out of the way so animal control can take care of this." 

"Kids?" Hiro quietly questioned, but he was ignored as some of the officers whipped out a tranquilizer gun. 

The Krampus let out an inhuman scream as the dart embedded itself into its leg right above its paw. He started to hiss and growl as it tried fruitlessly to shake the painful splinter off. Vigor gave a worried whimper, unsure how to help his friend.

Unsuccessful in removing the dart, the Krampus then turned his attention towards his attackers, lowering on his haunches as if to pounce like a cat. Fortunately, Baymax was able to grab the creature before it could jump upon anyone. 

As the robot and monster wrestled each other Cruz was already ordering his men to shoot again. 

"Be careful of Bay- Red Panda," Hiro advised. 

"I'm not concerned for your pet robot right now." Cruz snapped."If this next tranquilizer doesn't work then we may have to put the poor creature down." 

Hiro frowned, not only at Cruz's dismissal of Baymax's safety nor even that the officer was considering lethal force, but the Chief of Police was no longer talking to them like they were vigilantes underfoot but speaking down to them like they were children... like they were the same kids he would take out to ice cream once a month. 

However, the worrisome thought that they might have been discovered was banished from Hiro's mind when the Krampus broke free of Baymax's grasp, dogged the second dart, and ran down the railway tunnel. 

"Blast," Cruz muttered. 

"Don't worry. We'll track him down for you." Hiro yelled as he ran towards Baymax, happy to have an excuse to get away. He and the rest of the supers were already half way down the tunnel before Chief Cruz could protest.

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

Varian was the one to find the creature first. The Karmpus was huddled in an alley whimpering as it licked its wound. He snarled as Varian approached.

"Easy now...." Varian said softly as he inched his way forward. "Easy... I'm not going to hurt ya."

For a moment he thought the Krampus would run away again but it stumbled as soon as it tried to put weight upon its paw, and then promptly laid back down with a huff.

Varian untied the bandanna from around his neck, poured some sort of substance on it from his chimbag, and cautiously sat down next to the monster.

"Here... let's see what we can do about that paw..."

He pulled the tranquilizer dart out and the creature howled, but before the animal could even think of hurting him, Varian had wrapped the wound up with the bandana.

The Krampus seemed confused by such an action and sniffed curiously at the piece of cloth around his paw.

"It's just some chlorhexidine." he explained, though he did not know if the monster could understand him or not. "It should help ease the pain and sterilize the wound."

All the Krampus did in reply was to sigh and lay his head on Varian's lap, pinning him to the spot.

Varian resigned himself to his fate as a pillow and absentmindedly began to stroke the beast's fur.

"I know... San Fansokoyo is new and exciting and so full of amazing things to see, there's friends to make and wonderful inventions to discover... but it's also sometimes scary and unfamiliar.... with its own dangers... different from Corona's, sure, but they're still there... hiding just under the shining surface.... and you'll need those friends to help you avoid them, and they will cause they really, genuinely care about you... but... but.... it's still not home......"

The Krampus gave a sympathetic whine.

"You're probably missing the snowy pine forest that you grew up in... aren't you boy?"

Another little whimper.

"And maybe even... even your old friends and your own family?"

Suddenly Varian wrapped his arms around the hairy beast and gave him a desperate hug.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered, "I'm sorry, I don't know how to get you back. I've tried and I've tried... and no, I don't want to leave everybody, but... but.... but Dad...."

The Krampus nuzzled his arm in comfort.

"Oh, what are we going to do?"

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

"Cantet nunc io, chorus angelorum;

Cantet nunc aula cælestium,

Gloria, gloria in excelsis Deo,

Venite adoremus

Venite adoremus

Venite adoremus

Dominum."

The rest of the gang found Varian and the Krampus in the alley and much to their surprise he was singing a Christmas carol while gently petting the ferocious animal's head.

Said creature was contently purring in his lap. Which sounded more like a motorcycle idling than a furry friend expressing contentment.

Vigor cooed with delight and ran to meet them, throwing his arms around his new friend.

"Well, we finally caught him... now what?" Tadashi asked.

Varian only looked up at him at a loss and shrugged.

"We.... we have to try the portal again, I guess," Hiro said hesitantly, rubbing his forehead in thought. "I know it's not ready yet, b-but it's not like we can keep him hidden in the city."

Varian shook his head, and with some effort crawled out from under the huge beast and stood up. "It isn't just that that portal is broken. We don't even know where to send him to. We're talking about the entire world here. We can't just dump in him Corona, or the middle of the ocean, or 17th-century Istanbul... The point is... We need an energy signature to find where he actually lives, and I've no idea where we would get that."

"Well if we can't send him back, what do we do? Turn him over to Cruz and the animal control?" Tadashi asked

"I don't know if they would know what to do with him either," Hiro said.

"Maybe put him in the Zoo?" Fred suggested.

"They wouldn't know how to take care of him. It's not like mythical creatures are their specialty."

"I know!" Minimax shouted. "We can make him our new team mascot!"

"Great idea!" Fred joined in.

"Oh no... nope" Tadashi shook his head. "For starters, we have way too many exotic pets as it is, and secondly we wouldn't know how to take care of him either."

"I think we may have to ask Carnardist." Varian finally admitted. "She knows more than she's telling us."

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

"Oh, Vigor!"  Carnardist cheered with glee as she smothered her long-lost pet with kisses. "Oh, I was so worried. Thank goodness you are unhurt." 

As the happy pair were reunited, Hiro made sure that the blanket they had thrown over the Krampus remained in place. 

They had called the cafe and asked the older woman to meet them back at her shop, and the supers had to think of a creative way to keep the inter-dimensional monster hidden from the rest of the shoppers; as few as there were today. The best they could come up with on such short notice was a shopping cart with a quilt hastily thrown over it. 

Varian awkwardly coughed to gain the lady's attention. 

"Yes, malchick?" 

Varian ignored the unwanted nickname. 

"You were right about the Krampus." 

Making sure that no one was looking into the shop window he pulled the cover off. 

Carnardist screamed. 

"No. No. It's okay. He won't harm anyone." Varian tried to calm the frightened woman down.

It wasn't until Vigor hopped out of her arms and went to hug the creature did she stop panicking. 

"See? He's a nice daemon." Hiro encouraged. 

"The only problem is we don't know how to send him home," Fred explained. 

"And we know you have a portal." Tadashi chimed in. 

Carnardist eyes grew dark and she slowly straightened to her full height, even though she was several inches shorter than the teenage boys before her.   

"Is that so?" 

"Oh stop pretending." Vairan huffed. "You don't want to share your tech with us, then fine. The least you can do is put this guy back where you got him." 

Carnardist folded her arms. "There are other ways to move between worlds than your portals malchick, and they require far more than just flipping a switch. I can not 'send him back'. I can not send anyone anywhere." 

"Then how did you get here?" Tadashi challenged, ignoring Varian's flabbergasted expression. 

Carnardist seemed to relent at this and walked over to a box full of scrolls that had tipped over. She picked one up. "This is the incantation for opening the door." She made to hand the parchment over to Tadashi, before quickly snatching it away. "But! It will not lead you to where you want to go. The window does not open to another world, but a pathway between the worlds." 

"A pathway between worlds?" Varian echoed slowly. 

"A dark place... an eternity of nothingness that is very difficult to traverse. Only populated by the remnants of dead universes, lost to time eons ago."

"The void," Hiro said softly as realization dawned on him.

"Even if you know where you are going," Carnardist continued. "and know the markers to find, making the journey would require much preparation and immense fortitude. Are you sure you can face such dangers?" 

"No problem," Fred said as she finally handed over the scroll to Tadashi. "We're heroes! After battling supervillains, killer robots, and literal monsters, how hard can a little old trip through negative space be?"

"There are things hiding in the dark that are far worse than monsters." She softly warned. 

This gave everyone pause. Yet Carnardist would not allow them time to consider her words fully.

"Now get that hairy brute out of my shop!" she yelled, shooing them out the door.

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

"Arrggh, where is that toothbru-- Ahhhhh!" Krei stopped packing and let out a girly high-pitched scream when he came face-to-face with a towering beast with horns. 

"Sorry to bother you Mr. Keri." Varian waved apologetically as he poked his head around from where he was standing behind the Krampus. 

"But we kind of need to ask you a favor," Hiro added as he stuck his head around the opposite side. 

Tadashi followed suit as his head popped up from behind the monster's shoulders. "Do you think you got room at that animal reserve for a very rare and exotic inter-dimensional demon?"

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

"Baby raccoons!" Honey Lemon squeed when Varian showed off his newest pets.

She giggled and cooed over the tiny creatures as she scooped one up to cuddle. "What are their names?"

"Well there's eight of them, so I thought we could all name one," Varian answered.

"You're seriously not thinking of keeping all of them," Wasabi complained.

"No, Krei is going to keep them on the forest reservation," Tadashi answered.

"But we get to visit them whenever we want." Varian cheered. 

"Them and Mr Krampus," Fred added. 

"Mr. Krampus?" Gogo asked. 

"You had to be there," Hiro answered. 

"I'm going to name mine Ferdinand." Honey Lemon announced. "He just looks like a Ferdie."

Gogo knelt down and gently petted one of the babies that was crawling around. "Jane." was all she said.

"The Pacific Northwest raccoon is also known as Procyon Lotor Pacificus" Baymax stated simply.  

"Ummm... that might be a bit too wordy for a name, Baymax." Varian gently suggested. "Why don't you call him Lotor for short?" 

"'Lotor' it is then." 

"Can I call mine trash panda?" Hiro asked.

Varian made a face. "Come on... at least be original."

"Fine... "He randomly pointed to one of the unnamed critters. "That one is now Garbage Breath."

Varian rolled his eyes in defeat. "Okay, then we'll call her by her initials, GB."

Hiro gave a smug smile in approval, but still wouldn't go near the wild animal.

"I'm calling mine Menace." Wasabi huffed.

"That's a cool name." Fred obliviously agreed as he lifted up another raccoon and nuzzled its nose. "And this one can be The Mega Awesome Raccoon Killer, aka M.A.R.K."

"What about you Tadashi?" Honey Lemon asked. 

Tadashi screwed up his face in thought. "I think I'll call mine... Rei. 

"Did you really just name it that because it starts with an R?" Hiro asked deadpan. 

"Yup," he proudly admitted.

"And I'm naming mine Hypatia!" He picked up the last cub, still ignoring the mother who hissed at him from under the 'den' made of a tarp and cardboard boxes. "Isn't she adorable?" He cooed as he scratched her ear. 

Ruddiger then climbed upon his shoulder and licked his kit on the forehead; pet and owner shared a proud smile.

[grimlins-chaos]

Lo'gosh/Vari revamps! full body w/ comparisons to the og designs + alt looks + my mad rambling under the cut!

Do keep in mind these are my takes on the character and this is for my fic that's in the works where i'm doing some MASSIVE retconning of story and world building to 1, feed my brainworms because this *is* a warcraft x ffxiv crossover and 2, keep my fucking sanity because blizz retcons their own shit so much and the way they handle characters so inconsistently it makes me violently angry i fucking hate the books with every fiber of my being

I'm more than happy to give clarifications on some of my ideas just be aware that i might sound unhinged as i explain the ideas i've cultivated in my brain case for literal years like a conspiracy theorist so without further ado LET'S GO!

First things first let's get into Lo'gosh!

He starts off with his OG look as functionally it works and it's an iconic look in a ring where your gladiators are being pitted against guys who are damn near naked you don't want to disadvantage them with too much armor

the only few changes i made was switching out the sash for some more straps and the armored pieces are not nearly as bulky (i did straight up forget his spikes but i'll add them another time when i have a bit more time so just imagine they are there lmao)

But as iconic as the look is his clothes do deteriorate especially as my version of lo'gosh gets tossed around on the regular (think of captain america's "i can do this all day" while bloodied and beat the fuck up) on top of because it being such an iconic look Lo'gosh would need a change of clothes to replace the torn ones he was given as well as make him blend in a little more with your common adventurers, so when he meets up with allies in the eastern kingdoms he gets some new drip

he does hold onto the old armor pieces as to hold on to the lo'gosh identity for as long as he can before he has to return to being Varian Wrynn (to build more upon his feelings of "i don't know this varian, is that really the life i want?" in issue 7 of the comics because it was such a missed opportunity for internal conflict, we love a man who's struggling emotionally)

Storywise i felt that rather than have him be the strong willed half of Varian while the other half is more "weak willed" instead Lo'gosh and Vari represent two different sides of his ideals, attitude, and how he expresses love (yes we are going FULL fuckin' cheese mode here) Lo'gosh would represent the rebellious side of Varian, the one who would try so desperately to escape because he just wants to be free. Pre-split this would present most in his younger self who would regularly sneak out to have fun and support his people, away from the pressures of his duties that would later on take away any minuscule amount of freedom he had in his life. Lo'gosh also represents Varian's strong sense of justice, never afraid and not even hesitating to throw himself on the line to defend complete strangers because (unknowingly to Lo'gosh for most of the story) his past with a young abused girl that he once called best friend along with Arthas very much ingrained it into his head that he would never leave anyone who takes advantage of others and hurts them like how he had failed that girl

Lo'gosh is the side of Varian that's a force of nature that will act on the spot to protect others, unwilling to back down and has absolutely zero fucking idea on when to just give up (granted giving up seems more like a made-up concept to him)

When it comes to Vari (the nickname i gave to the more charming/gentle dad side of Varian just for the sake of making it less confusing) I do have a lot more to say so buckle the fuck up XD;;

In terms of design i fuckin' hate his pajama suit, i tried to redeem it, i very much did, but it wasn't workin' out for me XD It makes sense in that when it comes to Vari i very much see him as being extremely insecure, and so while katrana bumps up his charm to obnoxious levels the actual charisma he displays is a mask to try and hide his struggle. So it makes sense for him to make himself seem less regal and wear as simple as clothing as he can outside of obvious formal affairs and Katrana would very much prey on this especially as corrupt black dragons lean on self-importance and ego and so she'd make herself wear purples and reds while Vari blends more in with the crowd, she makes it so your eyes go to her rather than the fuckin king because she has manipulated her way to the top and holds all the power over him

But the whole body suit deal? uglier than sin, this ain't your wish medieval batman costume so for my redesign i gave Vari this

it was a combination of norse inspired renfaire tunics and as well as the outfits in one of my favorite movies; Quest for camelot (as King Arthur was a minor inspiration for my version of Varian)

And as for armor it does still have close resemblance to the og look in the comics but gave it a bit more bulk and baggyness in some areas as i imagine Vari representing the protection spec while Lo'gosh is of course fury, so to take a bit more of a beating he's got more protection

Vari being the half of Varian that retained his memories, he carries the brunt of the trauma and guilt brought on by all the trials and horrific events he's experienced but to cover his pain not only to try and hide from it but also in an attempt to protect his son and be there for his people (the mask of "everything's just fine" while the wearer of that mask is actively drowning). But Vari also carries the fatherly attitude of Varian, this is the half that presents Varian's love of his son the absolute most and for him he's willing to literally jump off a cliff just to save him. Vari will defend those he loves with his life.

Lo'gosh: Offensive Vari: Defensive

Together they are the two halves of one ballsy motherfucker you really do not wanna piss off

Anywho if you've made it this far i personally applaud you for subjecting yourself to my madness, i hope it was at least entertaining and a fun read!

[black-cat-charm]

incorrect quotes

Incorrect quotes timee✨✨

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

Camilo: we just didn't wanna see you get hurt!

Krel: I know you think you're tough, but you are 4'11!!

Hiro: I AM 5'0!

----

Jack, pointing at Hiro: that child is morally grey at *best*

Hiro: :33

------------*at a zoo*

Tuffnut: What are they in for?

Hiccup: tuff, this isn't prison. Tuffnut: So they can leave?

Hiccup: No, but-

Tuffnut, pointing at a meerkat: I bet that one murdered someone.

----------

Hiro: *accidentally brushes Varian's hand with his own*

Varian: ...

Varian: *aggressively holds Hiro's hand*

Varian, under his breath to Hiro: Fucking commit to it.

----------

Anna: I need life advice.

Merida, sipping Gatorade and eating cookie dough: You came to the right person.

---------

Douxie: I love you, kids. You're the best thing that ever happened to me.

Krel: We're the best thing that's ever happened to you?

Douxie: Yes.

Aja: Now I'm starting to feel a little sorry for you-

-----------

Hiccup: *fully immersed in a new book, very focused*

Jack: *upside down on the couch* Do you think ducks have feelings?:>

---------

Astrid: sorry for being late, everyone. I havent been sleeping well.

Hiccup: Have you tried a weighted blanket? It's like two people holding you down while you sleep.

Snotlout: hic, blink once if you're in trouble and need assistance. Blink twice if you're just a freak.

Hiccup: *blinks five times*

----

Violet, watching the news: someone tried to fight a squid at the aquarium today!

Camilo, walks in covered in ink: well, maybe the squid was being a dickhead😒

-----

Astrid: *grabs Elsa's shoulder with one hand and holds up her other hand* I am THIS close to falling in love with you! 👌

Elsa: your fingers are touching-

Astrid: **Did I stutter?**

----

Reporter: What's your type?

Astrid: My beautiful bf,hiccup

*Turning to the other members*Reporter: What about you guys?

Literally everyone else: Astrid's bf

------

Hiccup: *sees Jack wearing fancy clothes*

Hiccup: I see you have a date. Who's the lucky person?

Jack: …

Jack: I forgot to ask you, didn't I...?

--------

Hiccup: Why are you and Rapunzel sitting with your backs to each other?

Merida: We got into a fight

Hiccup: Then why are you holding hands?

Merida: ....raps gets sad when we fight

--------

Jack: Do you want to play 20 Questions?

Hiccup: Sure!

Hiccup: Whats your favorite color?

Jack, laser fucking focused: Triangle. Do you like boys?

-----

Flynn: You know archaic Latin?

Hiccup: I got bored with classical Latin.

Flynn: You know normal Latin?

Hiccup: Yeah someone from my knitting club taught me.

Flynn : YOU HAVE A KNITTING CLUB?

Hiccup: You don't know everything about me, Rider. Now, do you want a sweater or a scarf?

----

Merida: you fainted, do you remember anything?

Jack: only the ambulance ride

Anna: that wasn’t ambulance ride, i drove you

Jack: but i heard a siren?

Elsa: that was Rapunzel-

Rapunzel: sorry i got nervous -

---

Jack: I think I’m coming down with something. I’ve been so nauseous lately

Flynn, seriously: Maybe you’re pregnant

*they sit there in silence for a moment*

Jack: I don’t know who’s the bigger idiot. You for suggesting that, or me because I almost had a panic attack

-----

Ruffnut: Can we stay with you tonight?

Hiccup: Both of you? What happened?

Tuffnut: Someone was playing with an ouija board and cursed the whole house-

Tuffnut: Snotlout wasn’t any help. He doesn’t know how to banish spirits, so he’s just throwing salt at them yelling “does this look like a hotel to you!?”

---

Anna: Why are you eating tofu?

Jack: I'm trying to convince Elsa I'm a vegan

Hiccup: Why?

Jack: I've been stealing chicken from her fridge and if I'm vegan, she can't accuse me of stealing it

Merida: Why not just buy your own chicken?Jack: this is much more fun, watch

Elsa: Okay! I have had enough! WHO THE HELL! IS EATING MY GOD DAMN CHICKEN?!

[imanalbertross]

It's Unpopular Opinion Time with Uncle Al!

TTS Proshipping

I'ma gonna make some people mad, but here I go.

Most of the optional ships I have seen/read/heard of for Varian that are not Hugo or maybe Nuru, though to me she reads incredibly lesbian, are really huge proships. I am, of course, talking about cannon characters (You wanna ship him with an OC, go ahead. I don't have to approve but I can remember being young and wishing I had an OC to give my favorite boy-things). For the most part, the characters that are available to him are of a significant age-gap and power-gap, and that's not a good thing.

I feel like it needs to be remembered that so many of these women/men being shipped with him (though in the lists I've seen that don't include Hugo, the only guy they really offer is Eugene, so still a huge proship) are adults. Which is point number 1. No matter who that person is- Cassandra, Rapunzel, Eugene, whoever- going after the 14 year old, even after a gap of time to allow him to age, would be considered grooming.

Why? Well, largely because of just the three I named, they met him as a child (yes, fourteen year olds still count as children in the eyes of the law) and he had sort of a hero-worship attitude for them at first. He had a full on crush on Cass, respected Raps for being a princess and also the fact that she really thinks his alchemy is cool- which seems to be rare in his world-, and Eugene was probably his first gay crush. That puts them in a position to use that respect he has for them in their favor to gain his interest.

So, Cassarian/Cassandrian has a woman literally almost ten years older than him coming back and getting into a relationship with a person she knows had a crush on her when he was a child makes dating him in the future abusive. The reason for this is because she is leveraging this information to get a relationship based on a child’s feelings, which is super creepy. If this was a male YouTuber and a fan, you wouldn’t be shipping this.

Rapunzel is a princess, and knew she was when she met him, so she gets the Cass rundown plus the fact that the power balance between them is insane. Let not even mention the fact that those two are so high in the sibling vibes category that it makes it an extra step of creepy. And is anyone actually shipping Eugene with him? I kind of feel like that’s a fake ship that angry people use as an example of why we shouldn’t have gays in kids’ shows.

The second point is that most of the other characters that end up on those lists are either small children- like 10-12, and he’s 14-16. I don’t know if you know this, but Varian is kind of an exception to the rule, when it comes to 16 year olds hanging out with younger kids. He’s still learning to friend, which is how he ends up with such a diverse group of friends.

I’ve seen Vex in these lists, and she barely wanted anything to do with the main group, and Varian’s villain schtick wasn’t who he really was. We all have a villain arc as people, and seldom is it the person we long to be or would be on purpose if given the choice. Usually, like Varian, we end up pretty ashamed of that part of our lives. But the characters listed that don’t know him probably wouldn’t want that kind of a relationship with him, nor would they be likely to hold similar desires and ideals- this kind of thing can be a deal breaker in relationships.

This said, we also kind of need to talk about leaving Hugo off the list. Is this because he’s from a program that was denied by Disney? Possibly, but it needs to be said. If you want to post about partners for Varian, you need to state “out of the canon characters�� because, honey, there are so many non-canon choices. Hugo is just the one that the writers chose. Which is kind of important too, since they built him. They know Varian better than we do.

Being anti about gay ships but fine with straight proships is a rant for another day. But I got to a point with Cassarian that I just needed to point out the genuine nope surrounding it.

[phoenixbsblog]

The Flyn Rider of A03

Fan fic writers, especially those on A03 look out for Wolf of The Black Rose, they copy and paste sections of other people’s work and put it in their fics and call it a template. They had literary copied and pasted half of my first chapter of “Friends From The Other Side” when I called them out for it they called me a jerk and had the cheek to tell me to stay out of “their” work. They copied the wording of my blurb to with the fic “Charmed.”

My fic “Friends From The Other Side”

Varian felt sick, very sick but he would not rest until he got his father out of the amber, no matter how hard the bitter cold wind blew the millions of snowflakes at high speeds he trudged on. He had to, if there was a way he could quickly alert the Princess from his lab he would do it but unfortunately no such device had been invented yet. He shivered under his thick winter coat, through his fourteen years living in Corona he could not remember the weather ever being this bad, sometimes it did snow a little after Yuletide but this, this was just ridiculous. That morning there was not a cloud in the sky then blizzard! He panted heavily as he told himself over and over. “I will make you proud.”

The Capital in Corona was absolute chaos, people running left and right gathering their loved ones and essential supplies as who knew how long the storm would rage on for? Where they would go he did not know, he did not care either, he grunted as he pushed his sore legs to move faster, his breath became louder as the ache in his chest tightened. All this pain and agony will be worth it when he is back in his dad’s arms and hear those words he’s been longing to hear all his life. “I’m proud of you.”

People were so caught up in themselves they did not notice the young lad, struggling all alone in the vicious storm except one woman with two little girls, she was about to go after him but lost sight of him in the crowd.

He took a deep breath as he approached the castle entrance, he was about to knock on the door but changed his mind, she probably would not hear it and this was an emergency, besides she waltzed into his home with her friend uninvited. He grabbed a hold of the handle on the left door and yanked it open.

“Ay!” Pete jumped like a startled cat as a gust of icy cold wind blew into the hall. He shook his head, gripped his halberd, put on a stern expression as he looked down at the guy he was not familiar with. “Hey… Boy, you can’t come in here!”

“What are you doing here?” Stan asked.

“I-I need to see R-Rapunzel!” Varian cried in sheer desperation, he knew these two they were not as up tight as most guards so he thought they would let it slide.

Pete rolled his eyes. “Everyone wants to see Rapunzel but they can’t, incase you haven’t noticed we have a freaking blizzard! She can’t just drop everything for you!” He reached his hand out to grab him.

“No!” Varian yelled, with all his might, he pushed Pete away and ran down the corridor, he was not sure where she was so listened out for her voice or Cassandra’s, those two were almost always together.

“Don’t just stand there!” Pete shouted at Stan. “Help me!”

Stan grunted then followed after him, by the time they got there he was already with Rapunzel.

“Princess Rapunzel! Princess Rapunzel!” He cried as he ran towards one of the many rooms in the castle. He had never been so glad to see her, saved him time searching all around for her.

“I’m sorry… Princess… He ran straight past me,” Pete panted a little as he stood beside her, he nodded to Stan to take Varian’s other arm.

Rapunzel held her hand up to single for them to stop, she wanted to hear him out. Varian panted heavily, his heart hammering in his chest, once he got his breath back he looked back at her, pleading for her help. “Rapunzel, my dad’s in danger… You’re the only one who can help, please!” He paused to take another breath. “You have to come to Old Corona with me… Now!”

Rapunzel was quiet, he was talking so fast, but she caught on it was something about his dad. Just when she thought things could not get worse, she supposed he thought the same. The guards, Cass and Nigel who all looked back at her for answer.

She took a hold of his arm and pulled him to one side to talk privately, although this did not do much to help. “What’s wrong?”

“Rapunzel, please… The rocks, they’re encasing my dad!” Varian explained as best he could but she was still confused, there was not time to tell her everything. “Come, come and see for yourself!” He was about to dash out of the castle again but the Princess was not moving. “I-I know you can help… You have a connection to these rocks!”

Rapunzel looked at him sadly, she thought her hands were tied, no way Nigel or Captain would allow her to go through that nightmare blizzard. She had to organise an evacuation, she had to take care of all of these people. “V-Varian… I want to help you but not right now.”

Varian shook his head, she still was not getting it, he ran back over to her, he did not want to beg for her help but he was doing it. He would do anything to save his father, the only family he had left that he knew of. “Rapunzel, listen… My dad doesn’t have much time! You’re the only one who can help!” He clasped his hands together as he looked up at her. “Rapunzel please!”

It was then Nigel decided to stick his big beak in. “Your Majesty, please whatever the boy’s problem is it must be set aside! The storm is getting stronger by the second!”

Varian shook his head, by the time the storm passed it would be too late! “No!” He cried as he reached out to her, he pushed past Nigel and held her arms. “Princess… Y-You promised you would help me!”

Nigel glared at Varian, although they had already heard the part about his dad they did not care. He turned and signalled for the guards to come over. As always Stan and Pete jumped to their superior’s command, no questions asked, now Rapunzel could have stopped this, tell the men to stand down and release him but she was speechless.

“Rapunzel! You promised!” Varian gasped as Pete and Stan grabbed his arms tightly, their eyes were as cold as the weather outside. No sympathy whatsoever. Varian struggled but it was no use, he never felt so humiliated as he was dragged down the corridor by the arms. “Princess! My dad needs help!”

“Please don’t hurt him!” Rapunzel pointlessly pleaded, they were out of earshot and even then were rough. “You promised!” Varian screamed.

“Be quiet!” Stan growled as he tightened his grip on Varian’s arm. 

“No! This isn’t fair! She promised she would help me!” Varian cried. “S-She did!”

“Shut up!” Pete snapped harshly. “I told you to leave, you should have left!” When they got back to the front door, he opened one side roughly grabbed Varian and threw him out like a bag of trash.

Varian fell flat on the snowy ground, face first, he quivered frantically and panted heavily as panic raised inside him. What was he going to do now? He was all alone in a place with uncaring, cruel adults. He turned around and his staff was thrown out after him.

“Don’t come back!” He heard Pete shout before he slammed the door.

Varian could not think of a sassy remark, his heart was breaking, he rubbed his arms as the cold got through his coat. He took some time to think, to breathe, he picked up his staff as he stood back up and made his way back home with a heavy heart. Nigel was right about one thing though, the storm was getting stronger, much worse than it was when he left. He pushed on through snowbanks, jumped over rocks, fell over a couple of times but got himself back up. It was not long until the force of the ice cold wind became overwhelming, he shook violently, he could not even stop his teeth chattering. It was like he had been hit with a blast of Elsa’s ice as he was freezing all over. He could barely see where he was going, he tripped over something and fell down to the next level. 

Wolf Of The Black Rose “Charmed”

Varian felt cold. Very cold.

But he would not rest until he got his father out of the amber. He trudged on no matter how hard the bitterly cold wind blew the millions of snowflakes at high speeds.

He had to.

If there was a way he could quickly alert the Princess from his lab, he would do it, but unfortunately, no such device had been invented yet.

He shivered under his thick winter coat. Through his fourteen years living in Corona, he could not remember the weather ever being this bad. Sometimes it snowed a little after Yuletide, but this was ridiculous.

That morning there was not a cloud in the sky, and then a blizzard!

He panted heavily as he made his way into the city. The Capital in Corona was in absolute chaos. People ran left and right, gathering their loved ones and essential supplies. Who knew how long the storm would rage on?

Where they would go, he did not know, and he didn’t care either.

He grunted as he pushed his sore legs to move faster. His breath became louder as the ache in his chest tightened. All this pain and agony will be worth it when he is back in his dad’s arms and hear those words he’s been longing to hear all his life. “I’m proud of you.”

People were so caught up in themselves that they did not notice the young lad struggling alone in the vicious storm, except one man with two boys slightly younger than Varian. He was about to go after him but lost sight of him in the crowd.

He took a deep breath as he approached the castle entrance. He was about to knock on the door but changed his mind. She probably would not hear it, and this was an emergency.

He grabbed the handle on the left door and yanked it open.

“Ay!” Pete jumped like a startled cat as a gust of icy cold wind blew into the hall. He shook his head, gripped his halberd, and put on a stern expression as he looked down at the guy he was unfamiliar with. “Hey… Boy, you can’t come in here!”

“What are you doing here?” Stan asked.

“I-I need to see R-Rapunzel!” Varian panted, desperation in his voice. He knew these two were not as uptight as most guards, so he thought they would let it slide.

Pete rolled his eyes. “Everyone wants to see Rapunzel, but they can’t. In case you haven’t noticed, we have a freaking blizzard! She can’t just drop everything for you!”

He reached his hand out to grab him.

“No!” Varian yelled.

With all his might, he pushed Pete away and ran down the corridor. He wasn’t sure where she was, so he listened for her voice or Cassandra’s. Those two were almost always together.

“Don’t just stand there!” Pete shouted at Stan. “Help me!”

Stan grunted and followed after him. By the time they got there, he was already with Rapunzel.

“Princess Rapunzel! Princess Rapunzel!” He cried as he ran toward one of the many rooms in the castle. He had never been so glad to see her; it saved him time searching for her.

“Sorry, Princess. He ran straight past–” Pete panted as he and Stan took Varian’s arms.

“Wait! It’s okay,” Rapunzel cuts him off, holding her hand up to signal them to stop. She wanted to hear him out.

The guards let Varian go as he panted heavily, his heart hammering in his chest. Once he regained his breath, he looked back at her, pleading for help.

“Rapunzel, my dad’s in danger! You-You’re the only one who can help! Please!” He paused to take another breath. “You have to come to Old Corona with me… Now!”

Rapunzel was quiet. He was talking so fast, but she caught on it was something about his dad. Just when she thought things could not get worse, she supposed he felt the same.

The guards, Cass, and Nigel looked back at her for an answer.

She took hold of his arm and pulled him to one side to talk privately, although this did not do much to help. “Varian, what’s wrong?”

“Please, the rocks, they’re encasing my dad!” Varian explained as best he could.

“Encasing?” Rapunzel asks, surprised and confused. “Wh-What are you saying?”

There was no time to tell her everything. “Come-Come and see for yourself!”

Varian gestured for her to follow him. He was about to dash out of the castle again, but the Princess wasn’t moving. “You can help! I-I know you can help! You have a connection to these rocks!”

“V-Varian, it’s a state of emergency here…” Rapunzel looked at him sadly.

Her hands were tied. Nigel or the Captain would never let her go through that nightmare blizzard. She had to organize an evacuation, and she had to take care of all of these people.

“I’m sorry. I-I-I can’t help you. Not right now.”

Varian shook his head. She still wasn’t getting it.

“No! No, no, no, no, no!” He ran back over to her.

He didn’t want to beg for her help, but he was doing it. He would do anything to save his father, the only family he had left that he knew of.

“My dad doesn’t have much time! You’re the only one who can help!” He clasped his hands together as he looked up at her, the Princess looking conflicted. “Rapunzel, please !”

It was then Nigel decided to stick his nose in. “Your Majesty, please. Whatever the boy’s problem is, it must be set aside! The storm is getting stronger by the second!”

Varian shook his head. By the time the storm passed, it would be too late!

“No, no, no, please!” He protested as he reached out to her. He pushed past Nigel and held her arms, shaking her slightly.

Nigel glared at Varian. Although they had already heard the part about his dad, they didn’t care.

He turned and signaled for the guards to come over. As always, Stan and Pete jumped to their superior’s command, no questions asked.

Rapunzel was so overwhelmed by the situation she didn’t think to stop them.

“Please, Princess, you….” Varian gasped as Pete and Stan grabbed his arms tightly. Their eyes were as cold as the weather outside, no sympathy whatsoever. “Y-You promised you would help me! You promised!”

Varian struggled, but it was no use. He had never felt so humiliated as he was dragged down the corridor by the arms. “Rapunzel! Princess! My dad needs help!”

“No! Don’t hurt him!” Rapunzel stepped forward, pointlessly pleading. They were out of earshot and, even then, were rough.

“Rapunzel! You promised! You promised!” Varian screamed as they turned the corner.

“Be quiet!” Stan growled as he tightened his grip on Varian’s arm. 

“No! This isn’t fair! She promised she would help me!” Varian cried. “S-She did!”

“Shut up!” Pete snapped harshly. “I told you to leave; you should have left!”

When they returned to the front door, he roughly opened one side, grabbed Varian, and threw him out like a bag of trash. Varian fell flat on the snowy ground; face first, he quivered frantically and panted heavily as panic raised inside him.

What was he going to do now? He was all alone in a place with uncaring, cruel adults. He turned around, and his staff was thrown out after him.

“Don’t come back!” He heard Pete shout before he slammed the door.

Varian could not think of a sassy remark; his heart was breaking. He rubbed his arms as the cold got through his coat.

He took some time to think, to breathe. He picked up his staff as he stood back up and made his way home with a heavy heart.

Nigel was right about one thing: the storm was getting stronger, much worse than when he left.

He pushed on through snowbanks, jumped over rocks, and fell over several times but got himself back up. He shook violently and couldn’t even stop his teeth from chattering.

It wasn’t long before the ice-cold winds became overwhelming. He was freezing all over. It was like he had been hit with a blast of Queen Elsa’s ice magic.

He could barely see where he was going. He tripped over something and fell down to the next level. The snow continuously fell onto him. It would completely bury him in time, but he did not have the strength to get back up.

[imanalbertross]

I'm gonna add a copy paste of my previous post on this:

Most of the optional ships I have seen/read/heard of for Varian that are not Hugo or maybe Nuru, though to me she reads incredibly lesbian, are really huge proships. I am, of course, talking about cannon characters (You wanna ship him with an OC, go ahead. I don't have to approve but I can remember being young and wishing I had an OC to give my favorite boy-things). For the most part, the characters that are available to him are of a significant age-gap and power-gap, and that's not a good thing.

I feel like it needs to be remembered that so many of these women/men being shipped with him (though in the lists I've seen that don't include Hugo, the only guy they really offer is Eugene, so still a huge proship) are adults. Which is point number 1. No matter who that person is- Cassandra, Rapunzel, Eugene, whoever- going after the 14 year old, even after a gap of time to allow him to age, would be considered grooming.

Why? Well, largely because of just the three I named, they met him as a child (yes, fourteen year olds still count as children in the eyes of the law) and he had sort of a hero-worship attitude for them at first. He had a full on crush on Cass, respected Raps for being a princess and also the fact that she really thinks his alchemy is cool- which seems to be rare in his world-, and Eugene was probably his first gay crush. That puts them in a position to use that respect he has for them in their favor to gain his interest.

So, Cassarian/Cassandrian has a woman literally almost ten years older than him coming back and getting into a relationship with a person she knows had a crush on her when he was a child makes dating him in the future abusive. The reason for this is because she is leveraging this information to get a relationship based on a child’s feelings, which is super creepy. If this was a male YouTuber and a fan, you wouldn’t be shipping this.

Rapunzel is a princess, and knew she was when she met him, so she gets the Cass rundown plus the fact that the power balance between them is insane. Let not even mention the fact that those two are so high in the sibling vibes category that it makes it an extra step of creepy. And is anyone actually shipping Eugene with him? I kind of feel like that’s a fake ship that angry people use as an example of why we shouldn’t have gays in kids’ shows.

The second point is that most of the other characters that end up on those lists are either small children- like 10-12, and he’s 14-16. I don’t know if you know this, but Varian is kind of an exception to the rule, when it comes to 16 year olds hanging out with younger kids. He’s still learning to friend, which is how he ends up with such a diverse group of friends.

I’ve seen Vex in these lists, and she barely wanted anything to do with the main group, and Varian’s villain schtick wasn’t who he really was. We all have a villain arc as people, and seldom is it the person we long to be or would be on purpose if given the choice. Usually, like Varian, we end up pretty ashamed of that part of our lives. But the characters listed that don’t know him probably wouldn’t want that kind of a relationship with him, nor would they be likely to hold similar desires and ideals- this kind of thing can be a deal breaker in relationships.

This said, we also kind of need to talk about leaving Hugo off the list. Is this because he’s from a program that was denied by Disney? Possibly, but it needs to be said. If you want to post about partners for Varian, you need to state “out of the canon characters” because, honey, there are so many non-canon choices. Hugo is just the one that the writers chose. Which is kind of important too, since they built him. They know Varian better than we do.

Being anti about gay ships but fine with straight proships is a rant for another day. But I got to a point with Cassarian that I just needed to point out the genuine nope surrounding it.

Let us ship Varian with Cassandra, Rapunzel, Eugene, Catalina, Red, Vex, Faith, Hubert, Nuru, Ariana and Lady Caine.

Everything is healthier for Varian than that unsympathetic, selfish creep Hugo.

okay. even if hugo was a 'unsympathetic selfish creep", shipping varian with a BUNCH OF ADULTS would NOT BE HEALTHIER.

lets say youre right. lets say hugo SUCKS. (he doesnt) lets say he treats varian like ABSOLUTE CRAP. (he doesn't)

shipping varian with adults will always, ALWAYS be worse.

hugo's not a creep. not selfish. not unsympathetic. do you know anything about this show?

the bottom line is that VARIAN IS A MINOR. varian should not be shipped with a bunch of adults to fulfill your creepy porn fantasies.

YOU dont have the right to age him up. YOU are sick. YOU need help.

hugo is ONE YEAR OLDER THAN VARIAN. they're in a CANON RELATIONSHIP. they're both CONSENTING ADULTS.

cassandra is MANY YEARS OLDER THAN VARIAN. theyre BARELY IN A CANON FRIENDSHIP. she is the ONLY CONSENTING ADULT. varian is a CHILD.

PEDOPHILIA IS WRONG!!

and next time, leave me one long message instead of a bunch of tiny stupid ones.

(btw you cannot expect anyone to take you seriously when youre hiding behind anonymous, you creepy sick fucking disgusting pedo enjoyer)

[julemmaes]

ahem... cassian taking nesta to that bookstore (fluff, don’t try making shit sad aight?)

Our First Non-Date

SURPRISE I GUESS!!

Nessian Archeron x Cassian

You can find the first part here.

A/N: this month has been really nice on me. I finally feel better, not crying every day for literally nothing and I wanna dedicate this to my fren Sim (@perseusannabeth) cause homegirl just finished the offcampus series and she's grieving. I know she is. So yep. Take some Nessian fluff

And Nina, I had to add some angsty parts, but they're not Irene Angst Level, okay?

Word count: 6,833

When Cassian had called her back the night after their outing with Amren and Varian, she'd stared at the phone for a full minute until it had stopped ringing and she could go back to reading the article on poisonous plants that Elain had sent her.

It hadn't even been five minutes before the words had been obscured from the call screen again and the name "Cassian Navarro" appeared.

When she had ignored the call for the second time as well, he had decided to change tactics.

Hi Nes, I was thinking about when you'd be free to go to the library. I need a couple of manuals because I'm building a little gazebo in Rhys and Feyre's garden and your sister is putting a lot of pressure on me, so I was wondering if you had the day off tomorrow.

Nesta was stunned at the amount of useless information he had given her, but managed to reply with a simple, Working tomorrow, day off on Wednesday. Sending you the address later.

She certainly hadn't anticipated how hard it would be to get up that day, her will to live must have been hiding somewhere under her bed and Nesta didn't know if it was directly related to their going out or just her stupid brain not being able to connect to real life.

The only other worst thing she'd been able to think of at that moment was having to explain to Cassian what was going on, so, pulled out of bed by the future embarrassment they'd feel in such a situation, she'd managed to dress, wash and style her hair so that she had a braid crowning her head.

She hadn't put too much effort into deciding what to wear, after all, it wasn't a date and Cassian had seen her many times before in far more outrageous and scruffy clothes than the comfortable black jeans and grey jumper she was wearing right now.

The silence had made her uncomfortable at first, only because Cassian seemed to be really stressed - about what, she certainly wouldn't ask - but after about ten minutes, he'd turned on the radio and popped a CD into the player and the melody of a Verve song had filled the cabin.

She'd started humming under her breath and he'd looked at her with a faint smile on his lips and his eyes sparkling. She hadn't mulled over that look too much, but she'd started eyeing him more closely and noticed the way he narrowed his eyes at every street sign and how he ran a hand over his face every time a strand of hair landed in front of his eyes.

When Cassian had to blow the hair out of his face for the millionth time, Nesta pulled a rubber band off her wrist and handed it to him abruptly.

Cassian looked surprised, but took it almost immediately, brushing her fingers. Nesta immediately withdrew her hand, feeling how warm and calloused his were.

"Thanks, my hair is killing me today," he finally spoke.

Nesta continued to look ahead, noticing that they were about to enter the highway. "Well, it wasn't very wise of you not to tie it up before you got in the car. I never drive with my hair down."

He nodded slowly, still with the band clutched between his fingers. And then, suddenly he let go of the steering wheel, "Hold that for me for a second." and Nesta's eyes went wide, launching herself at him to grab it and keep the car in their lane.

"Are you nuts?" she almost shrieked, keeping her gaze fixed on the road and feeling every nerve ending vibrate with anger.

"Relax." he said in a calm tone, shifting her hands and gently pushing her back into her seat one more time. "It wasn't even five seconds."

Nesta huffed out a laugh that lacked amusement, "You do something like that again without warning me first and I'm getting out of the car."

Cassian looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "A bit dramatic, but alright."

She sighed, shaking her head slightly and resting it on her hand propped against the window.

That awkward silence fell again and Nesta couldn't figure out what the problem was. She hadn't felt any kind of unease three days before, but after all, they'd been with friends and busy walking, not stuck in a car for two hours with no chance of walking away or splitting up.

And in that moment, the reality of their situation overwhelmed her.

She forced herself to steady her breathing, opening the window slightly so that more air could get in. She forced herself to think about all the things she would see today at the library and how beautiful and spectacular it had looked from mere pictures. She wasn't going to let her twisted mind stop her from having fun with someone who was desperately trying to be her friend.

She took a deep breath and a surprising calm enveloped her. She looked to her left to see if Cassian had noticed that temporal change in her behaviour, but it seemed to her that he was just as fidgety.

She was about to ask him if he was okay, because the knee that kept bouncing and the fingers opening and closing on the steering wheel were obvious nervous tics, when he did the eye thing again, this time leaning forward over the dashboard as well, and the sharp turn he took to the right caused her to shift in her seat so much that she bumped her shoulder against his.

Cassian grimaced, "I'm sorry," he murmured.

"What's wrong?" she asked, readjusting in her seat.

"Sorry?"

"What's the matter? With your eyes, I mean."

"Oh." he seemed surprised by the question, almost as if he hadn't realised she'd been observing him for the last twenty minutes. He cast her a curious glance immediately returning to the road. "I wear glasses when I drive, but I couldn't find them this morning and these contacts are the wrong shade and I can't see very well."

Nesta nodded thoughtfully, "Where do you normally keep them?"

"In the glove box. But I already checked," he replied, rolling his shoulders. Another nervous tic.

Nesta had to suppress a smile. There was no way he could be so worked up just because they were talking. She looked down at the phone in her hand to check the time, and a flash of light momentarily dazzled her. She blinked a couple of times and then scoffed, "Found them."

She reached a hand towards the hatch compartment and pulled out a pair of very plain black glasses, handing them to him. Cassian seemed to finally relax since she'd gotten into the car.

"Thank fuck." then he pulled into a lay-by and without turning off the car, slipped two fingers in his eye, removing one contact and then the other, leaving Nesta stunned. He put the glasses on his nose and flashed her a smile that went from ear to ear. And Nesta was stunned for other reasons.

She couldn't deny that Cassian was an attractive man. She wasn't stupid or blind, but the man next to her should have come with a warning sign or a bell.

Attention, hot stuff coming your way.

Nesta forgot the comment she had wanted to make about how antigenic and risky it had been to remove his contacts without first cleaning his hands and in such a dirty environment.

His hair tied back in a messy bun, with the hint of a beard he was letting grow, and now his glasses on, Cassian looked like a model on the cover of a newspaper about sexy carpenters. The short-sleeved black shirt he wore that pulled on his huge biceps every time he moved in the slightest was just one more point to add to the list of things that made him appealing.

"So," he began, getting back on the road, "what's your favourite colour?"

Nesta snorted, "Are you serious?"

Cassian seemed to blanch, "What?"

"Have you ever been out with a girl?" she asked him sarcastically, knowing full well what the answer would be.

He clenched his jaw so hard that a muscle popped out on his face, "Only on dates."

"And this isn't a date." pointed out Nesta, holding back a laugh at how tortured he sounded.

"It's not."

Nesta touched the tip of her nose, thoughtful, "Shouldn't this be easier for you then?"

Cassian released a breath through his nose, "I'm under a lot of pressure right now."

"Yeah?" she asked, looking away and smiling.

"Yeah, and stop looking like you're enjoying it." he retorted.

She feigned innocence, "Enjoying what?"

"My pain." he sheeted.

Nesta laughed, unable to contain herself any longer and when he glared at her, she covered her mouth with one hand, laughing harder. Only when he snapped his fingers against the steering wheel did she stop, laying a hand on his arm, just for a few seconds, "I'm so sorry." she wheezed, "I just don't understand. When you're hanging out with my sisters or Amren, or Mor, I don't know, you don't seem to be in this much discomfort."

Cassian sighed again and Nesta chuckled one last time, stopping when he smiled slightly. "I'm just trying not to make you uncomfortable. You accepted I take you on this non-date, and I'm doing my best not to flirt badly with you every chance I get." he confessed, nodding slowly, as if to convince himself that he was doing the right thing and not wasting their time.

Nesta was genuinely surprised at his answer and decided to offer him an olive branch.

"My favourite colour is blue."

"Nice." he smiled, showing a hint of a dimple, "Mine is red."

"It's too bright of a colour," she said lightheartedly.

Cassian chuckled, "I'm pretty sure it reflects my peppy personality."

Nesta nodded, "I read an article once about how a person's favourite colour says a lot about the person themselves," she said annoyed, "It sounded like one of those quizzes you find in gossip magazines, like it was written by a third grader. I hate those things, like horoscopes."

He grunted, "God, Mor's obsessed with horoscopes..."

The conversation continued without any more awkward silences for the remainder of the ride, and when Cassian turned onto a bumpy road, Nesta knew they were close. Of course, even if she hadn't looked at the directions from her house to the place, the myriad cars parked along the road would have been an indication.

They parked in the first vacant spot they could find and as soon as Nesta was out of the car, an icy gust of wind hit her face, making her shiver with cold. She looked over the bonnet at Cassian and found him staring at her with a half smile on his face. He'd left his glasses in the car and had let his hair down again, her hair band on his wrist, and he looked even prettier than before.

"Do you want my jacket?" he asked her, with a conflicted look on his face, as if he didn't want to. Nesta narrowed her brows and he hurried to add, "There's no hidden agenda to my offer, just a friend lending a jacket to another friend."

Nesta watched him for a moment, trying to really understand his intentions, but then remembered reading in one of the reviews that the library was heated inside and shook her head.

Cassian gave a small nod of assent and then pointed down the street, "Shall we?"

From where they had parked to the library it would have been about a ten minute walk and Nesta couldn't help but notice the way Cassian kept his distance between them as if he was afraid she would get scared and run away.

He was back to fidgeting nervously with his fingers and when he realised she was looking at him, he put them in his pockets, smiling tensely at her. He took a deep breath and then said, "So, what do you know about this library?"

Nesta looked ahead, hoping to catch a glimpse of the building, but the foliage of the trees was still too thick and they were still too far away for it to see anything. She brought her hands to her stomach, crossing her fingers, "I actually did a bit of research before I came. Did you know that the Peace Treaty between Prythian and Hybern of 1864 was signed here?" she asked in an excited voice.

Cassian smiled at her so naturally that she felt herself blush. He had an expression she couldn't decipher, but Nesta had never been good at cracking people in general, so she didn't venture to continue until he said, "Tell me more."

And Nesta launched into a detailed description of the events that had taken place inside the building, which only a hundred years before had become a bookstore. Only one wing of the building had been furnished in such a way as to become a real shop, the rest had been set up to be visited as a museum, one of the oldest libraries. She talked about the architecture and how it was obvious that the palace had been built long before it became an important meeting place for scholars and researchers.

"And in 1932 a fire destroyed the science wing, burning more than a hundred textbooks." Nesta sighed, thinking how devastating that loss had been. She lit up with happiness when she remembered what happened next. "But luckily, one of the most important literary clubs in the city got together and they managed to recover a small portion of the books. It took them years to rewrite every manual, but they got help from one of the local researchers, a certain Mr. Hawthorn, I can't remember the name or details of the research, only that he's mentioned often in the article I read."

When she paused to catch her breath, Nesta realised with immense horror what had just happened. Cassian had not spoken a word after asking her if she knew anything about the place and she had monopolised the conversation without even acknowledging him once. She felt herself flare up and knew in that moment that any hope they had of becoming real friends was gone.

Sometimes she would get lost in thought and ramble on about the things she was passionate about. Quite often people had stopped her, letting her know they weren't interested in the subject, but Cassian had never interrupted her and she was afraid to look at him, convinced she would only find boredom and disgust on his face.

That was why, when he spoke, she was struck dumb.

"I'm impressed." he breathed, chuckling immediately afterwards.

Nesta pushed herself to look at him and he stood admiring her with his mouth slightly open, as if he couldn't find the words. She felt her heart clench in her chest so tightly that she didn't know if she could survive the pain. Who knows how many times he'd tried to stop her and she'd gone on and on about windows and arches and treaties of peace.

But when she got a better look at him, stopping in front of him, Cassian looked... happy.

He let out a laugh, running a hand through his hair, and Nesta was distracted for a moment by the sway of his arms before she was brought violently back down to earth when he said, "You surprise me more and more every time, Nesta."

And the way he said her name - Ne-sta - made her toes curl.

"Why?" she managed to throw out in a weak voice.

Cassian laughed again, raising his eyebrows so high they ended under the hair on his forehead, locking his eyes to hers. "I have a degree in history and my final thesis happened to be on this very library." Nesta felt the ground open up beneath her feet and hoped it swallowed her alive. "I came out of university with top marks and various accolades for finishing my studies on time and you, dreadful creature that you are, have just taught me at least three new things about this place."

His gaze was so intense that Nesta had to lower her head to hide the satisfied and surprised smirk that popped up on her lips.

"You're amazing." huffed Cassian, "Perfect in every way."

She shrugged.

"Although," he clicked his tongue against his palate, "You made a mistake."

Nesta looked up at him, frowning, "Oh, yeah?"

Cassian nodded, smirking fiercely, "Why don't you turn around and admire the palace, and once we're inside, I'll explain what it is?"

She must have been so lost in her chatter that she hadn't noticed that they had arrived in the large entrance forecourt, because when she turned, her back to Cassian, the building stood among the forest trees, as imposing and splendid as ever. The photos had not done it justice in the slightest and Nesta was left speechless.

Living in a country with a history going back millennia, it wasn't hard to stumble upon historic streets with old buildings and monuments, but this was completely different.

She was still admiring the way the stone around the windows had been carved to look like trees trying to get into the building when she felt something settle on the small of her back. A hand.

Nesta stiffened slightly, before closing her eyes and relaxing.

Cassian must have noticed her discomfort because a moment later his hand was no longer touching her.

They entered the museum part of the building in silence and Nesta paid the entrance fees, reminding him of the tea he'd offered her last Sunday and Cassian hadn't been able to argue with that.

They had just passed the doors to the first room, the smallest in the entire palace, when he leaned towards her, to the point of touching her ear with his lips.

The fact that he was whispering as if they had been in a sacred place did things to her little icy heart, "Mr. Hawthorn was not a man."

Shocked by that information, Nesta's head snapped in his direction and she realised too late that she had miscalculated the space.

Her lips brushed against his cheek, the corner of his lips, before Cassian reacted so quickly he startled her, but avoiding them both an involuntary first kiss. His sudden movement caused him to lose his balance and he reached out his hands towards her, straightening as he held on to her shoulders.

Both of them were holding their breath.

Cassian cleared his throat, shifting his gaze to the wall of books, but returning to look at her soon after, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, you just surprised me," she said when she had recovered. "I must have read the article wrong."

He was still watching her and shook his head, "Oh no, I don't think it's that. They only found out a few months ago that it was Georgina and not George Hawthorn. They found letters in the house of what was thought to be Hawthorn's wife. Some people think they were just friends, but anyone who has read the letters they exchanged knows full well that they were lovers. Anyone who says otherwise is either homophobic or stupid."

Nesta realised that she could have listened to this for hours on end. And so it was.

The visit continued relatively quietly, Cassian explaining every detail to her, expanding on things she already knew and when he forgot something, she would step in and have her say, commenting on every little aspect.

She'd noticed how Cassian hadn't tried to touch her anymore and how whenever someone was about to bump into her, he'd vocally warn her instead of wrapping an arm around her shoulders to move her out of their way like he had on Sunday.

The visit to the museum lasted less than expected unfortunately, because Nesta hadn't had this much fun in too long. It was becoming easier to smile at him or tease him when he said dumb things and even he seemed to finally be more at ease when he had to make jokes that smacked of him.

When they finally got to the shop, Nesta couldn't stand on her feet anymore, she just wanted to buy all the books she saw and go home and arrange them on her shelves.

"Which section do you want to see first?" she asked him, even though she had started hopping impatiently about the place.

Cassian gave her a smug look, "Why don't you go wherever you want and I'll look for the manuals for the gazebo in the meantime? That way you don't waste time keeping up with me. I'll be right there."

Nesta let out an excited squeal and ran off, hearing only the echo of laughter that shook Cassian from head to toe.

***

As Cassian flipped through the various books to find a picture of a gazebo that looked similar to the one Feyre had requested, he kept casting glances at Nesta.

Her eyes sparkled as she grabbed book after book without even reading the synopses. She was in the romance novels section, from what he could see from where he stood, but soon ended up in the classics, where she grabbed just as many books. She moved to the mystery books section, this time stopping to read the plots and putting most of them back on the shelves.

Then, surprising Cassian, she walked over to where the historical novels were and turned to face him. He bent his head to the side, raising an eyebrow to ask her what she was doing there. Nesta seemed at a loss, trying to move all the books from one arm to the other to point him to join her, but Cassian was already halfway there and when she looked back up at him and found him standing in front of her, she gave him a bright smile.

"Hello." she exclaimed.

Cassian's breath caught for a second before he too sighed a greeting.

"I was thinking," Nesta began, running her eyes over the titles in front of them, "that you could recommend something about..." she wiggled her fingers as much as she could, trying to point to the shelf, and Cassian leaned forward, cursing himself for not thinking of it sooner.

"Here," he removed the first stack of books from her arms and she sagged a little, giving him a thankful look. "I can go get a bag so you can put them all in there and you don't have to carry them like this," he said taking all the books and having her help him arrange them so they wouldn't fall out.

He smiled at her over all the books, looking down at her and she smiled back just as happily.

Hell, if she looked at him like that every time he took her to a bookstore he should do it more often.

He had just turned to go towards the entrance, where he had seen special bags for carrying books, but Nesta stopped him by putting a hand on his arm.

"Wait!" she exclaimed almost impishly.

Cassian turned his head, genuinely worried that something had happened to her in the mere seconds he had been shot. He must have moved too fast, because one of the smaller classics flew off the top of the stack and landed right in her face.

Nesta groaned at the impact and brought her hands to her face, rubbing her forehead where it hurt.

"Oh my God, are you okay?!" he asked with wide eyes. And then Nesta laughed, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she stared at him and he visibly relaxed. "Christ, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to throw a book at you."

She waved a hand in mid-air, to let him know it was nothing, and bent down to pick up what he realised was A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Of course Nesta was reading feminist classics.

She turned back to the books as if nothing had happened and Cassian had the urge to look for a list of all the bookstores in the world to take her to if it meant having her in such a good mood by his side, it didn't matter if she would never agree to go on a real date with him, he realised. As long as he could see her smile like that, he didn't need anything else.

"So, I was saying, before you battered me with a book-" she cast an amused glance over one shoulder at him.

He frowned, muttering, "I said sorry."

Nesta ignored him, "What do you recommend?"

Cassian blinked.

"You said you read historical novels right?" she asked, looking for confirmation, "You could recommend your favourites. But not the English or Russian classics. Or French ones. Chances are I've already read those."

Cassian was stunned. Nesta wanted advice on books. From him.

They were silent for too long as she turned around impatiently, "You lied?"

He looked surprised, "When?"

"When you said you were reading. Were you just doing it to impress me or were you serious?" she asked and maybe Cassian imagined it, but she looked disappointed.

He was quick to reply, "The Black Coat, by Neamat Imam. It's pretty recent, but set in the 1970s in Bangladesh. It's about a man who needs help and seeks it from a journalist he asks for work and one of the main themes is the famine that hit the country after it became independent. It's not my absolute favourite, but it certainly gives you something to think about."

Nesta nodded, searching through the titles and finding it almost immediately, "Anything else?"

Cassian felt his neck heat up and coughed a little before resuming speaking. "The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson. Set in the tenth century, it's about a Viking who is called Red because of his hair and focuses on the European political outlook in the late Viking Age. Again, it's not as good as the historical classics, but it's nice and shows a way of life that we're definitely not used to. It's different."

After looking for a few minutes, Nesta gave up reading and turned to him, crossing her arms. She tilted her head to the side, watching him closely, "What's your favourite book?"

Cassian shrugged, settling the books against his chest, "I think at the moment it's The King Must Die by Mary Renault. But I change my mind every month when I find something more interesting or captivating."

She nodded thoughtfully, "I'll take that one then."

And Cassian wished he could change the title immediately because... what if she didn't like it? Or if she thought it was a stupid book? What would she think of him then?

But Nesta had already found a copy a few shelves down and there was no turning back.

He could counterattack, though, "What about yours? You're not going to give me any advice on feminist classics or blatantly trashy romance novels?"

Nesta opened her mouth wide, looking outraged as she placed the latest addition on the pile, settling the book under her chin, "How can you say they're trashy if you don't even know what they're about?"

Cassian chuckled, "On the cover of You Came," he said as he gave her a sly look, "there's something called a 'spicymeter'. How am I supposed to take you seriously?"

Nesta blushed, "I read erotic novels, so what? I have to keep myself busy in my spare time somehow."

And then he challenged her, "Get me the hottest book you've ever read," he said in a joking tone, "I'll go get the bag in the meantime."

She had already left for the section when he had an idea that would surely doom him depending on how Nesta would react.

He walked up to the cashier's desk, making sure she didn't notice, and begging the clerk behind the counter to be quick, paid for all her books, gently placing them back in the bags.

When he reached her again, she seemed not to have noticed anything.

"'So, what did you get me? Ride Me? Fucked You Good? Last Night I Gave You A Thousand Orgasms?" he teased her with an annoyed grin on his lips.

Nesta gave him a fiery glance before noticing the bags, quite different from those you put the things you wanna buy in, and closed her mouth tightly. She frowned and looked at them for so long before speaking that Cassian began to feel self-conscious.

"You paid for my books?" she whispered, looking at him.

He nodded.

"It's not a date, Cassian," she reminded him for the umpteenth time.

"I know, but-"

"So why would you pay for things that are mine?"

He couldn't read her. She wasn't hinting at anything.

She didn't look angry but she didn't look impressed or grateful either.

Cassian placed the bags on the ground between them and Nesta followed his every movement with her eyes.

He ran a hand through his hair, sighing, "My adoptive family is filthy rich. I have a trust fund that I never get to spend on things I really want to do, the only way I get to use it is by giving gifts to my friends, so just accept these as my first gift - friend to friend - and call it a day."

Nesta continued to be impassive as she kept her eyes fixed on the books.

Perhaps he had gone too far. After all, she had taken more than a hundred and fifty euros worth of stuff, but he really didn't mind.

He was about to apologise, tell her she could give the money back if it made her feel better. Cassian would find a way to spend it back on her at other times anyway.

Then she raised her head, handing him two books with hilarious covers to say the least, "These two have storylines full of plot twists. You won't be able to put them down, but don't expect big epic battles or Viking warriors. It's just two college kids trying to survive in the modern world while finding solace in each other."

He didn't even have time to thank her that she was already across the room and waiting in line so she could pay them.

He scoffed, shaking his head.

"I guess you'll be paying for these two," he said as he caught up with her.

Nesta didn't even look at him, pulling out her wallet, "A gift from a friend to a friend."

As they walked back to the car, Cassian offered to carry the bags, but she didn't want to hear one more word so they had managed to compromise and had split the load equally.

They'd been on the road for about thirty minutes now and Nesta had gone through every book he'd bought her, talking about all the previous works by the authors she was holding in her hand at the moment.

Cassian could have died like that. Happy, relaxed, listening to the plots of those dirty books with no moral lessons to teach the reader, just pure entertainment.

He wondered at that moment if he would make it through the first few chapters of the books she had offered him and let out a heavy breath through his nose as he turned right towards the coast.

Nesta looked at him wide-eyed, stopping her rant about the headmaster's son getting the occasional model student to fall in love with him. She brought a hand to her mouth, "Oh dear, sorry, I'm boring you. I'm sorry."

He gave her a confused look ready to tell her she didn't have to apologise, but she continued.

"Sometimes I do and I don't even realize it. And I realize they're not challenging plots where you have to apply some hidden lobe of the brain to understand them, but they distract me from everyday problems, you know? It's fun to be able to unplug a few hours after I get home from work and-"

"Jesus, Nesta, stop!" he laughed, placing a hand on her thigh. She sighed. "You don't have to apologise. Not when you're so excited about something." he looked at her slyly, offering her a reassuring smile, "In fact, I'm glad you're talking so much today. Normally I have to pull the words out of your mouth."

She blushed slightly and then grew sullen soon after, sitting up straighter, "This isn't the way to Velaris, where are we going?"

Cassian didn't answer.

"You're taking me into the woods aren't you?"

"We literally just came out of a forest."

She ignored him.

"I knew it. You're a serial killer."

"Nes-"

"You're a little dense though. Why would you spend so much on someone if you're going to murder them?"

He decided to ignore her, chuckling, "I'm taking you to the beach."

"Why?" she asked, somewhat unconvinced.

Cassian shrugged, "I wanted to see the sunset."

"You didn't ask."

He sighed, gripping the steering wheel, "Okay," he whispered, then louder, "You want to go to the beach and watch the sunset?"

She nodded in assent and then continued to read the plots aloud.

And Cassian could have sworn he was in heaven.

***

Nesta gathered more sand, making a small ball out of it and placing it on the top of one of the towers she had made so far.

"Where did you learn to make such good sandcastles?" asked Cassian suddenly from behind her, startling her.

She jumped in the air, turning to face him and noticing the satisfied smile on his face for having taken her by surprise.

Nesta didn't answer him immediately, but allowed herself to admire him a bit.

Since they had arrived at the beach, they had taken off their shoes and were now both barefoot and then Cassian had bent down and started to roll his trousers around his ankles, offering to do it to her jeans as well, but Nesta had refused. She had sat down, looking at the sea for a while, while he walked along the shore and collected stones and shells.

When he had come back to her and shown them to her, asking her to make a sandcastle, she had laughed at first, but faced with his serious expression, she had been unable to do anything but get up and roll up her sleeves, moving to where the sand was a little more workable.

She looked away from that heavenly vision and made another ball, placing it next to the one she had just made. "When I was little my mum never let me do these, she said I'd get too much sun and forced me and Elain to stay under the umbrella all day," she replied truthfully, remembering the cruel bite of jealousy watching the children on the shore.

"And Feyre?"

Cassian had joined her, kneeling beside her and had begun to place the shells so that they served as windows to the towers.

Nesta sighed, "Feyre was still too little when Mini Me wanted to build sandcastles, but as soon as I became 'too old to play like a kid'," she gave him a knowing look, mimicking her mother's voice, "and Feyre started to figure out she was an actual being, Mama let her do whatever she wanted. Even stand in the sun for hours on end." she shrugged. "Whether it was out of indifference or love, I never understood."

Cassian had been silent the whole time and now he watched her, hands on his thighs as he waited for her to give him more. For her to tell him another little piece of her soul.

So she offered him a forced smile, "So to answer your question, it's all pent-up creativity."

"Well, you're very good at it," he granted her. "I can imagine what you could have done if your mother hadn't been so strict."

Well, yeah.

"What about you?" she asked him.

"What about me?"

"Did you go to the beach a lot?"

Cassian smiled weakly, getting up and heading towards the water to collect more shells. He nodded a couple of times and then said, "My mum and I loved coming to the beach and she loved making castles. And she always put so many 'windows' on the towers-"

Nesta turned to look at their work, realising how many shells he had placed on the piles of sand. She smiled softly, covering her eyes from the sun and watching him walk towards her.

"We always came when she was free from work."

A charged silence settled between them until Cassian chuckled, drawing her attention, "What?"

"You said this wasn't a date. And that we're just friends. Right?"

Shifting her gaze to him, she noticed how he kept his hands hidden behind his back and the mischievous glint in his eyes didn't reassure her at all. Slowly she stood up, nodding.

"So, I must treat you as I would treat my friends. Correct?"

"Cassian, I swear to god that-"

She didn't have time to finish her sentence that something wet and sticky landed in her face with a resounding splash, making her jump back.

She took a deep breath and immediately regretted it when a strong smell of stale water and seaweed flooded her nostrils.

When she opened her eyes again, wiping the seaweed from her face, Cassian was doubled over in laughter.

She didn't even give him time to get up when she started to run towards him - to do what, she had no idea - but he started to run away too and soon they were chasing each other all around the beach, not noticing the sweet looks they were getting from the people around them.

At that moment, Nesta was running so fast that she could feel the wind in her hair and the smell and sound of the sea, together with the laughter of the man who was chasing her, mixed with her own and the continuous tapping of her feet on the sand, made her feel alive.

She felt Cassian come closer every few metres until two strong arms wrapped around her waist and she was pulled up and spun around in the air.

A surprised yelp escaped her as Cassian laughed in her ear, "Gotcha!"

It wasn't until he stopped spinning with her in his arms that they realised the position they were in and immediately broke away, laughing embarrassed.

Nesta turned to face him, her face red from running and her breathing laboured. He was in no better condition. His hair was pointing in all directions and his sculpted chest was rising and falling with haste under the black fabric of his shirt.

He looked away first, scratching the back of his neck and fixing his eyes on the sunset, and offered her his arm as they returned to where they had left theirs things unattended.

Nesta shook her head, laughing one last time and started to run, " Last to reach the castle is stupid!"

Cassian burst out laughing, but he caught up to her in the blink of an eye and they both knew that she had doomed herself to lose. That's why, when he fell tripping over his feet, Nesta knew he had done it on purpose.

She helped him up and they sat back as in silence they watched the sun go down, disappearing past the horizon and the blending lights of the sky created a breathtaking spectacle.

Nesta couldn't have noticed, too busy admiring the clouds, but Cassian had been watching her the whole time, trying to understand how something as sombre and secretive as her could look so bright just by being.

The journey back was silent, but this time the silence was not awkward. They both welcomed it with open arms, a new awareness that there was no need for it to be filled with chatter and that gave Nesta the opportunity to close her eyes for a moment and doze off.

When the car stopped outside her flat, Nesta was surprised to find that she didn't want to get out.

She turned to Cassian after she had gathered her things and nodded, "I had fun today."

He gave her a genuine smile, looking surprised, "Me too."

And then she permanently shocked him, adding, "I'm not working on Saturday, we could do it again. Changing location."

He blinked once. Twice. Then he nodded, "Sure."

He didn't seem to want to say anything more, so Nesta waved goodbye to him and then got out, not waiting for an answer from him.

Cassian stood motionless in the car park of her flat for another half hour, trying to figure out what had just happened, and when the reality of things finally dawned on him, he smiled, "Fuck yeah."

acotar tag list (if you wanna be added or removed just dm me or send me an ask)

@sjm-things @kris10maas @awesomelena555 @sannelovesreading @queenamydien-of-nargothrond @ireallyshouldsleeprn @messyhairday-me @ncssian @observationanxioustheorist @my-fan-side @booksstorm @maastrash @sayosdreams @thedarkdemigod @courtofjurdan @thewayshedreamed @hellasblessed @nahthanks @archeron-queens-blog @sleeping-and-books @bri-loves-sunflowers @thegoddessofyou @ghostlyrose2 @claralady @queenestarcheron @oop-theregoesgravity @firebirdofscythia @anne-reads @fantastypenguins @laylaameer01 @thalia-2-rose @darkshadowqueensrule @bookstantrash @lanyjoy-13 @the-regal-warrior @lordof-bloodshed @dealingdifferentdevils @swankii-art-teacher @rowaelinismyotp

[inkdrinkershadowsinger]

ACOTAR Couples Headcanons

Rhysand and Feyre

They are the Pottery Barn couple one hundred percent.

Still wildly in love even centuries later because they genuinely believe that no one is better than the other person.

If Harry Potter existed in this world, you cannot tell me that Feyre wouldn’t be a diehard Potterhead.

Rhysand is one of those people who genuinely believes in conspiracy theories. He would have a tumblr dedicated to them.

Midnight cookie baking is a thing. The warmth of oven, the whispers because they don’t want to wake Nyx, and the complete and utter happiness of just being able to be together.

Lucien and Elain

Elain thinks that there is no one Earth who is more of a gentleman than Lucien. And Lucien definitely bumps up that gentlemanly behavior because he knows that she likes it.

Elain may not be a big reader, but she loves poetry. She loves how people can use words to mutate meaning and declare feelings that they wouldn’t be able to otherwise. She wishes that she were more eloquent, but since she can’t be, she allows poetry to do that for her.

Lucien can’t keep his eyes from Elain, and not in a, “You are so beautiful. I can’t stop staring at you way.” But in a, “Is this real way?” He doesn’t realize that when he’s not looking, Elain is looking at him in exactly the same way.

The parties that these two have are legendary. Their parties are always at the same time the best, the wildest, the calmest, and the place to be. They just have that energy that can shift and become whatever the people around them need them to be.

The two of them have the most lavish mating ceremony. He is the son of a High Lord and beloved of many Courts. Between them most all of the Courts demand an invitation, and it becomes quite the state affair.

Azriel and Gwyn

Azriel is known for his straight face, but when Gwyn’s around you can see everything that is thinking, whether that is thinking about how beautiful she is or smirking because she said something funny or contemplative because he’s thinking deeply about what is bothering her. Around her, he is an open book.

Gwyn is an absolute weirdo, but only because she is so academic. She is constantly studying a hundred different things at once, and she can recite any of those things at the drop of a hat. She is ridiculously intelligent and well spoken. Azriel will always look to her first when seeking information or an opinion.

At first, Azriel is weary of the services that are offered in the Library. He knows that they are meant for the women there so he doesn’t want to intrude, but when the priestesses decide to host a special service in the training area, Azriel joins them. He sings beautifully, and more than one person is brought to tears when he and Gwyn sing together.

When Gwyn is pregnant and her body seems to be betraying her. No sleep. Upset stomach. The only thing that calms her is when Az takes her flying. In the air, they take in the sight of Velaris, and something about the wind and the cool air settles Gwyn. It is no surprise when the baby is born with wings.

When Azriel and Gwyn have a child, Azriel can’t help but to look at the differences between his scarred and bloody hands the innocence of this child, but one talk from Gwyn and he realizes that he is being stupid. “You are whole because I love you,” she tells him. “And I am whole because you love me.” “And together, we will be more than enough for this perfect child. We can do anything, together, as a family.”

Mor and Emerie

Mor and Emerie are that couple that are never home, but when they come back from whatever far away land, they always have gifts for everyone. Sometimes, Mor even lets Emerie pick out the gifts though she still insists that she has the best taste.

Mor has never been obsessed with anyone quite in the way that she is with Emerie. If she weren’t so dang cute, Emerie might find it a bit weird, but Mor is Mor, and she is gorgeous, and Emerie loves her. So what if Mor keeps a scrapbook of their time together. Emerie will appreciate it centuries later as much as she appreciates it now.

Emerie has and always will be a badass on the battlefield. There is something about battle that gets her blood pumping. Maybe it because she wasn’t allowed to fight for so long, that now she loves it. When she and Mor are on the battle field or in the training ring together, nothing can stop them. The two move in perfect unison, and their blades and hands are deadly instruments.

When Mor finally decides to come out to her family, Emerie is right there by her side. Emerie, the woman who never gave into her own bigoted family, is a support for Mor when she needs her. And she is a fist when Keir tries to humiliate Mor. “She is in charge here,” she says. “Not you. She has always been better than you, and she always will be.” Keir leaves their presence with more than a broken spirit, a broken nose.

The pair are always holding hands. They love just being around one another, and it shows to everyone that they see. For years, Mor has had to hide who she is, but now, she walks the streets of Velaris hand in hand with the person that she loves most in the world.

Amren and Varian

Amren never knew what it meant to love. She still isn’t sure that she loves Varian, but she is suspicious of how much she cares for him. She knows that if anything happened to him, that she would want to burn the world to the ground. Rhys informs her that the feeling is very much love, and she considers it before deciding that maybe it’s not so bad.

Amren goes to the summer court on occasion, and she gets a little jolt of pleasure when someone remembers her past, and jumps at her presence. Varian laughs along with her. Nice isn’t meant for everyone. Amren will be Amren. And he likes her just the way she is.

The pair love to swim together in the Adriata. The sun glistens off of their skin, and each think that there is no better picture in the world.

Game night is a blood bath. Amren and Varian versus whoever, it doesn’t matter, Amren plays to win, and Varian plays to help Amren win. No matter what.

A mating ceremony may not be in the cards for them, but when Nesta tells them about the human concept of marriage. Amren demands a wedding. It is held in Velaris. The dress is huge. The cake is delicious. And Amren smiles.

Cassian and Nesta

Cassian and Nesta are the definition of ‘’I can make fun of them, but if you try it, you die.”

Nesta has never been partial to animals, but Cassian can’t seem to keep from bringing them home. Animals are just attracted to him. Nesta is the father that doesn’t want the dang animal to begin with, but then secretly gives it cuddles and treats whenever no one is around to witness her. They end up liking Nesta more than Cassian.

Cassian and Nesta love to talk. They just love to hear each other speak. It can be about important matters or it can be about nothing at all. But they always have their best conversations in the middle of the night. Lights off, the house quiet the pair whisper back and forth about books, about life, about love, the future, the past, nothing if off limits.

When the two have a daughter, she is the best parts of each of them. She challenges them in her teenage years, but even when the trio argue, they always come back together again because they are family. And no one knows what that means more than Nesta and Cassian.

There is not a night that the pair spend out of each others’ arms. They are simply the most comfortable and the most at peace when they hold each other as they sleep.

[rachelbethhines]

Tangled Salt Marathon - Flynnpostor

Here we go, we’ve come to the last of the filler episodes in the show. It’s also a pretty decisive episode within fandom. I’m kind of of split about it myself.

Summary: After having a nightmare about Cassandra at her stronghold, the Captain of the Royal Guard steps down from his position and hands his title over to Eugene. Eugene is unsure about being chosen as the new captain, but is distracted by the news that there is a new thief who bares a remarkable resemblance to Eugene, also going by the name Flynn Rider, who has stolen the crown again. Eugene, Rapunzel, Maximus and Pascal take off to go look for the thief while Lance is left in charge of watching over Varian's new invention.

Dream Sequences Are Cheap  

Animation director Brad Bird pretty much sums up my feelings on dream sequences here in this clip.  

To be fair to this scene, it does actually further the story as its an inciting incident for Cap’s character, but how much stronger a story point would it have been had the confrontation here been real? You dilute the tension and the drama of a conflict when you reduce it down to only a hallucination rather then allowing it to hold real consequences. 

It’s also a let down because there is no other Cap and Cass scenes beyond that one flashback in Islands Apart; despite the fact that Cap should logically play a larger role in Cassandra’s story given her supposed motivation

This Is A Broken Narrative Promise 

Hey, remember that line back in Islands Apart where Cap refused to not give up until he’s found/saved his daughter.... yeah well here he is just giving up. 

And look, I can understand why he might refuse to fight her. I can understand why this is a conflict of interest and duty. I can even understand why he may want to retire or at least take a break from active duty while this is going on. The problem with this development is that it’s not used to push the story forward.

Cap doesn’t do anything after this. He doesn’t go on a quest to find/save his daughter. He doesn’t stick around to advise his replacement. He’s not there when Cass is debating her actions and desires, when he should be. All this is, is a cheap way to discard the character so that Rapunzel can be the only person that matters to Cassandra, and that’s just an insult to everyone watching, honestly.

So Are We Confirming That Frederic And Arianna Have Fully Regained Their Memories And Are Back In Charge Now? 

What was the fucking point behind the mind wipe then? Nothing’s changed, no one has grown or learned anything, and consequences have no meaning because they don’t last. It was even resolved off screen!

Everything involving this arc has been a lazy cop-out from day one.

Pointing Out Your Bad Writing Doesn’t Make It Any Less Bad

If you have to make everyone else incompetent in order to make your mains look good then you’ve failed at writing. Go back to school.

This Is Also A Broken Narrative Promise 

Hey, remember the Dark Prince plot that season two introduced? Remember the whole, ‘I’m going to be king someday and must learn how to be a leader’ arc from season one? 

Well the writers sure didn’t. 

This isn’t a fulfilling capstone to Eugene’s responsibility arc because it wasn’t set up. He was working towards and working through other things that had nothing to do with him being a guard. In fact the subplot that involved him being a guard had already resolved itself back in season one and barely had any impact on the story until now. 

Most people who defend this development do so with a ‘well at least it’s something’ protest. Eugene fans who desire for anything other then comedic relief antics have latched onto this captain idea out of desperation instead of recognizing it for the moldy table scraps that it is. 

Tangled fans, you were promised a banquet and instead were given a None Pizza with Left Side Beef. 

Audience Expectation 

Reality

And the most insulting thing about it is, is that it doesn’t fundamentally change anything. Eugene just does the same things that Eugene always does, only now he wears an ill-fitting uniform for a few episodes while doing it.

Eugene Being The New Captain Doesn’t Make Any Sense In-Universe 

Did we just forget that Eugene is suppose to be the future co-ruler of two kingdoms? 

This isn’t a promotion, it’s a downgrade. 

There’s also the added conflict of interest. He’s royalty now; he can’t guard himself. Is he just going to order himself about? No, he’ll have to delegate all the real work to someone else anyways, or step down in a few years once he and Rapunzel officially marry, so why not go ahead and give the position to that person instead? 

He can’t preform the duties of being Captain and a ruler at the same time. Even as only a prince consort, Eugene will still need to be involved in diplomatic missions, community projects, and holding court. He’ll be too busy to actually command anything, and you can’t run a military without a functioning chain of command. 

Furthermore, if he’s is both the law maker and the head law enforcer then that consolidates too much power to one person. Just because we know that Eugene won’t abuse his power, doesn’t be mean he or anyone else should be granted that much control to begin with. 

And finally, this development does not play well to Eugene’s strengths as a character. We spent a whole episode back in season one about why Eugene wasn’t a good fit for regular guard duty, but had more useful skills to contribute elsewhere. 

Did Cap just forget that Eugene is bad at time management, following orders and procedures, and disregards rules on a regular basis? Those are all needed requirements for any high ranking position in any military. 

What Eugene is good at, is creative thinking, mediating conflicts, applying past experiences to finding solutions to current problems, public speaking, and networking. All useful skills for being an instructor (his old position), a diplomat, or a ruler. 

Which is what he actually is. The show just refuses to let him be that because they can’t have Rapunzel not be the center of attention for fear of exposing how bad at her own job she really is.

Rapunzel Nagging Her Boyfriend To Take A Job That He Doesn’t Want Isn’t Very Endearing Show 

Rapunzel is a really shitty girlfriend. 

It’s one thing to encourage someone to try something new, it’s another to nag and harass them into making a long term commitment that don’t want to make just because it’s what you believe is what’s best for them. 

That is called being controlling, and people should rightly dump controlling partners.

Okay, This Is A Pretty Funny Joke 

As I said, I don’t hate the series, I’m just disappointed with how badly it ended. Jokes like this are the last rays of joy I’ll see before heading into that ending so I’m appreciating them while I can.

Don’t Expect This To Come Back Into Play 

Why is the teenager the only one doing anything about the current threat? You know, the same teenager who turned to ‘evil’ when the adults failed to do anything about another on going threat. Varian didn’t need to learn responsibility. He didn’t need to learn to be ‘useful’. He needed to learn trust again and no one has given him that. Ugh!  

Also this ‘early warning system’ never comes back up into the plot. it’s just here to sideline Varian and Lance for this episode.

Then Why Aren’t You Doing Anything Rapunzel? 

Rapunzel still hasn’t informed anyone of Zhan Tiri, and neither she nor Eugene have told Varian about Cass stealing the Mind Trap. Also for the past two episodes Rapunzel’s done nothing but sit on her ass instead of doing anything to supposedly ‘save’ Cassandra like she wants. 

She’s making the exact same mistakes as she did in season one; only now there’s magically no consequences for it like there was back then. It’s bad writing. 

Also watch as she contradicts herself in the very next sentence.

Rapunzel has no businesses even being in this episode, but the series shoehorns her in anyway. This isn’t her focus episode, she has no stake in it’s conflict, and she has more important things she should be doing then leading her boyfriend around by the nose.

Since When Does Varian Care About ‘Rules’? 

This goes back to what I was talking about earlier. Varian’s characterization in season three feels off because it’s not a logical follow through of his story. Like the rest of the characters in the show, he’s forced into becoming what the ‘story’ needs rather then story molding itself to fit what the characters need. 

That’s why the writing is so flat. Complex story telling has to derive from the characters first, not the other way around. Simpler subject matter can get away with the reverse, like with folklore, ballet/pantomime, or comedic shorts, but that’s not what Tangled the Series is.

Brock Is A Likable Character, But He Shouldn't Exist 

I like Brock. 

Brock is fun. 

He’s also completely pointless as a character. 

He doesn’t actually add to the wider narrative, nor he does he even help Eugene along on his development; regardless of the episode trying to convince you otherwise.  

He really only exists so that the artists can save money on another recolor... which they wouldn’t have had to do had they actually managed the budget properly. 

And the really sad thing is, that this could have been a clever premise had they had the balls to use Bastion instead; and just dumped the whole unneeded Captian subplot. 

Hey, even better, put this episode in season two and let him be a rival for Rapunzel’s affections and let her consider other possibilities like a normal human being would. Make the characters earn New Dream all over again instead of putting in a stupid ‘marriage is bad and will ruin your life; durh durh durrr’ message.

So Why Does Brock Exist? 

We get no in-universe explanation for why Brock is Eugene’s twin. 

In fact him being Eugene’s twin kind of undermines the entirety of the Dark Prince subplot and Eugene’s reconnecting with his father arc. Because the only reason why Eugene accepted Edmund’s bullshit story in the first place is because he can apparently recognize Eugene by his eyes, and has been following his wanted posters.... 

Only Brock has the exact same eyes, the same wanted posters, and the exact same fake name! How do we know he’s not real the Dark Prince? How does Edmund and Eugene know? Is Eugene’s mother even really dead, or did she just up and leave Edmund’s crazy ass and took one of their twins with her?

Brock’s very existence calls into question they entirety of the plot, because Edmund is now an unreliable narrator. Even his talk about how ‘the moonstone corrupts’ can’t be taken seriously by the characters any more, which leaves their faith in Cassandra twisting in the wind.

So Why Doesn’t The Baron Notice That There Are Two Flynn Riders Here? 

He’s looking right them here, and yet he acts surprised later when he sees them both. 

Framing matters people.

Let’s Talk About Outfits 

I touched on this back with Varian and Cassandra, but it bares repeating.

Eugene is shoved into this ill-suited outfit for the next four episodes in order to shove this dumb, “Blue is bad” symbolism down our throats. Even though cooler colors were always a part of Eugene’s palate since the beginning. 

Putting him in a red and gold uniform not only feels wrong but also undermines the previous narrative of him being the heir to the moonstone/dark kingdom. Same as how forcing Varian to wear browns and reds actively divorces him from the previous Black Rocks and Brotherhood plot. 

Yes, it’s an intentional decision made by the creative team, and it’s also an incredibly dumb one to make. It goes against everything that they had worked so hard to set up in past seasons and winds up shooting the story in the foot. 

As for Lance, his outfit looks better since his palate has always featured warm colors, but it’s just a one and done and therefore a waste of money. 

Yes, even in an episode that solely exists to save the series some cash the creators still mismanages the budget!

Okay, This Was Also a Good Joke 

I think this episode sums up TTS in a nutshell pretty well. There’s good in here mixed in with the bad. There’s fantastic art, until it hits you with lazy recolors. There’s funny jokes, along side flat out character assassinations. There is a fun premise to be had but you gotta wade through a lot of bullshit to get to it. It can be entraining but most of it is pointless. Oh and the surrounding main story is shit.

This Has Nothing To Do With Jealousy Rapunzel, And You Should Actually Listen To What Your Spouse Is Trying To Tell You For Once.  

Her finance, the man she wants to marry and spend the rest of her life with, is opening up to her and speaking about something that means a lot to him, and she has the gall to look bored! Not to mention ignoring what he’s telling her and dismissing his concerns all because she thinks she knows him better than he knows himself. 

And we’re suppose to side with her? 

Eugene isn’t jealous. He’s having an identity crisis, and no one is supporting him, not even his girlfriend. 

In fact when has Rapunzel ever supported him in his quest to find himself through out the show? 

She wasn’t involved in his search for a new career back in season one. She dismisses his past and his feelings about his ex during season two. She’s not there for the Dark Prince reveal, and she guilt trips him into spending time with his abusive dad that repeatedly tells her he doesn’t want anything to do with.

 Now on top of all that she’s trying to nag him into taking a job he doesn’t want and shitting all over his experiences and feelings. And the less said about No Time Like the Past the better.

This Is Propaganda 

He was a starving orphan you spoiled brat!!!

Also you don’t know what all he he stole or who stole from. You don’t know if the victims actually cared about the shit they lost. A rich asshole with hundreds of bags of gold, that he got by exploiting other poor people, isn’t going to notice a single one missing. 

I need people to understand that not all propaganda is intentional. Sometimes propaganda is just giving a platform to someone who happens hold really toxic views, and thinks these views are normal because they’ve lived a closeted and sheltered life. 

Like say a middle aged, middle class, straight white man using the main protagonist from a well known Disney property as a mouth piece for his conservative, and frankly classist, views on ethics and morality and no one challenging him on it because people blindly trust the brand name. 

And they just plot their kiddos down in front of the boob tube, don’t bother watching it for themselves, and presto you got a generation of children now exposed to these past generations ideas of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ with no level of nuance or alternate view points being expressed. 

Now, I’m not saying that Disney is evil and brainwashing children, I mean they are evil, but that’s not how brainwashing works. Kids aren’t going to walk away from watching one show and grow up to become Republican's or anything. Nor am I saying that you need to ‘cancel’ the series and bully people who happen to like it. 

No, what I’m saying is that parents need to be more involved in the media that they’re kids consume. You need to watch things with your child. Maybe not every single episode, but you need to at least be aware of what’s going on. You need to be able to engage them on their level, and you need to be ready to point out why something may be contradictory to your own thoughts and opinions, so that way you kids can learn critical thinking skills. 

That’s why I write these reviews, to get young people in the fandom to think. 

You don’t need to make excuses for something just to enjoy it. You can very much engage in media/fandom while still being critical of it. You can still like a character while acknowledging that the writing for them is bad. It’s not an either/or.

How Did We Go From This...

To This?

What happened to the Rapunzel who actually cared about people? 

What happened to the girl in the tower who was eager to learn and listen to others? 

What happened to the woman who loved and accepted Eugene for who he was and didn’t pressure him to conform to anything; whose non-judgmental nature is what made Eugene fall in love with her in kind? To the point where they would sacrifice so much for the other. 

And why the fuck are we suppose to consider this toxic treatment, where she just shuts down Eugene’s opinions, as ‘positive development’? 

The Rapunzel in the later half of Tangled the Series doesn’t actually love Eugene, she just loves the idea of Eugene. She loves the fantasy of someone hanging on her arm and constantly validating her without having to extend any of that same effort herself. 

She went from being the first person who accepted the real Eugene for who he was, to being the main person who refuses to see him as anything other her idealized version of him. And if he dares not to conform to that fantasy she bullies him, shuts him down, and goes back in time to literally brainwash him.

This Isn’t Progressive 

Okay, first off, you’re the fucking princess. If you want to ‘reform' Brock rather use traditional punishments then you go ahead and just do that. It’s not Eugene’s job to do it for you; neither as the Prince Consort nor as Captain. 

Secondly, you can’t reform jack shit of you can’t acknowledge the flaws within a system first. You can’t out reach to someone if you know nothing about them or their motivations. And you can’t just coerce people into doing what you want and expect to make any lasting changes. 

Lastly, Rapunzel is a big fat hypocrite here because guess what, Lady Caine is still banished, the Saporians are still rotting in jail, and she has yet to apologize the poor oppressed teenager for the abuse he suffered while holding him in a dungeon for a year!!!

This is just the Stalyan and Dewayne incident all over again. Rapunzel only cares about making a show over ‘everyone deserves a second chance’ when it’s convenient for her. When she’s expecting to gain something out of it. Otherwise she can’t be bothered.  

This behavior isn’t progressive reform; it’s nepotism. 

Why Do We Have To Sacrifice Lance’s Development In Order To Showcase Varian’s Growth? 

I mean it’s good that Varian has learned from his past experiences and is more careful with his inventions, I guess, but as I stated  before responsibility was never the focus of his arc. 

You know whose arc was focused on responsibility though? Lance. 

When Lance was first introduced they had set up an arc for him where he would not only be reformed but learn to become a more responsible member of society; as like a mirror to Eugene. 

Well, not only have the writers abandoned that arc now, but they’ve flanderized Lance’s character to the point where he’s is actively worse than when he started. All for the sake of keeping him as comedic relief. 

I longer have any reason to root for him to adopt Angry and Red in the end, if this is how he acts around them.  

Rapunzel Is A Hypocrite 

Says the woman who neglected a child in need for thee months. 

No, I’m not letting this go, and neither should you. 

Rapunzel does not work was the series mentor and other characters’ consciences when she hasn’t learned anything herself!

So This Pretty Much Confirms That Eugene Left Stalyan At the Altar For Rapunzel 

This would have been nice to know back in Stalyan’s actual focus episodes. Seeing as how it’s a important plot detail that explains her motivations better. 

It also makes that flashback in Return of Strongbow kind of pointless, but oh well, what else is new. 

The Dynamic is Funny But It Comes Too Late Into The Story To Do Anything With It

I mean, if you ignore all the character assassination going on, Lance and Varian do play well off each other. But there’s nothing interesting done with the dynamic because we’re only two episodes away from the finale, so what was the point? 

It’s honestly just a platonic version of the pairing of the spares trope now. In fact that’s all Lance seems to exist for. To be a distraction from the main plot so that certain other characters can get one on one screen time with Raps. 

Why Are You Surprised By This Baron? 

You literally saw them both together just a few scenes earlier. 

Why? 

No, seriously, why? 

The Baron has no personal beef with Brock. He can tell the two of them apart easily, so it’s not as if he’s killing them both to make sure he gets the right one. And Brock himself has made it clear that he has no personal stake in the Baron’s feud with Eugene so it’s not like he’s going to go out of his way to stop him. 

Therefore, what does keeping Brock hostage gain him? 

So Why Is Rapunzel Here? 

Just like with Return of the King, Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, and Day of the Animals, Rapunzel has no business being in the plot of the episode as much as she is.  

To be fair, she’s utilized slightly better in here in the climax of this episode than she is in others, but we still have to put up with her barging in where she doesn’t belong to get to this point. 

We’re Missing Some Much Needed Context Here

What happened between the Baron and Stalyan? Why aren’t they on speaking terms with one another?

How did the Baron survive the poison and why would Stalyan abandon her still clearly sick father? Why was she hanging out in that pub without him in The Eye of Pincosta, if he was still alive and ailing? 

Why does the Baron blame Eugene for his failed relationship with his daughter? Where’s the connection here? 

Why are we acting like Stalyan has ‘moved on’ when she’s still a thief and still living the life she’s always known? There’s more to a redemption beyond just who you date! 

Why is Rapunzel more concerned about the Baron ‘letting go of his past’ and not about the fact that the man led an organized crime ring for decades that involved coercing poor children into becoming his wage slaves and kept getting away with it because of his wealth and status as nobility!? 

Like ,I could come up with theories all day long to answer these questions, but I shouldn’t have to. Explaining basic motivations and establishing continuity is the job of the writers.

Wait? How Did That Hurt Her? 

Indestructible cosmic power, and all you have to do is bung a rock at her to bring her down.  

Man Cass must really suck at being a villain if that’s all it takes to defeat Rapunzel. 

While it’s refreshing to have a climax in an episode that holds real stakes and tension for once, especially in season three, the fact that the threat is just some normal ass dude while the main supervillain and their literal daemon accomplice can’t match up even in the finale, just showcases how poorly written and inconsistent the rest of the show is. 

Another Reason Why This Episode Works, Is Because It Does Have Actual Set Up and Resolve

I mean it’s a super simple set up and it resolves itself in less than five minutes; but at least it’s there. 

The writers of this show are indeed capable at times, so what went wrong?  

Now, This Is Not a Good Joke 

See.. it’s funny... cause... cause... why? Women can be badasses too? Or is it cause the men are incompetent? Or are we just suppose to nod along in agreement the blind worship of such an awful person? 

Usually the jokes in this show land, but it’s like they have this one old douche in the writers room trying extra hard to be ‘woke’ and coming across as cringe because his understanding of feminism is from the fucking 70s and he can’t grasp the concept that women have moved on to other concerns and now demand more from media beyond just ‘durr, hur, the girl saves the man now’. 

Why Is Rapunzel Needed For Eugene To Do The Right Thing? 

Of the two of them Eugene is far more empathetic than Rapunzel. He also has a better understanding of the world, it’s complexies, and how the system works both for and against the common man. 

Rapunzel is not Eugene’s personal jiminy cricket. That shouldn’t be her role in story. It’s a disservice to them both to force her into that role rather than letting them compliment the other’s development naturally. 

Also, I thought she wanted Eugene to become the captain. Arresting people is part of the job! 

This Is Still Nepotism 

I’m not saying that Brock should have been thrown in jail or anything, but there were other alternatives than letting him get away scot free. Like community service or even a small fine to work off. Advocating for progressive reform of the penal system does not mean that consequences for harmful actions magically disappear. 

Brock still committed various crimes and stole from other people beyond just taking the crown. He makes no promise to return the money nor to stop stealing in the future. And he doesn’t even have much of a reason for becoming a thief in the first place. He just wanted the fame of being Flynn Rider, not because he was starving and in need; as far as we know. So while it’s nice that he gained some self respect that doesn’t mean he’s a better person now. 

Therefore this is just Eugene returning a favor for someone who did him a solid, not him learning to be a better protector of the law. It’s still nepotism.   

I Would Rather Have A Spin Off About This Guy Then Any Of The Mains 

Still for all his faults, Brock is far less annoying then the mains this season. 

A series with him would basically be a traveling robin hood esque adventure; which has more basis for a new show then anything anyone else has proposed with either Cass or even Varian. 

What Happened to “Prison is Bad”? 

More hypocrisy for ya. 

And once again, I’m not saying that he Baron doesn’t deserve it. He has a life time of crime and abuse to account for. But what is Rapunzel’s reasoning. 

What’s the distinction in her mind between Brock and the Baron, or Stalyan and Caine, or Dewayne and Andrew, or Varian and Cassandra... ect. and so on. 

If you’re going to, as a ruler, declare that you’re changing the penal system then you need to actually change it across the board and commit to some logical follow through. It’s can’t be as arbitrary as this is. 

Don’t Ruin You’re Character Development For a Bad Joke, Writers 

This is only justification we get for why Eugene decides to accept the captain position and it only comes at the tail end of the episode, has next to nothing to do with his experience with Brock, and it’s muffled and distorted half the time because the writers wanted to keep up this joke that only really funny the first time it was used. 

It’s so fucking lazy, guys. 

It’s like they knew that they they had no logical reason for this development and that it didn’t fit Eugene’s character or arc, but they thought they could get away with using it if they gave a half-assed allusion to some sort of previously unmentioned insecurity issue that Eugene has; and it’s not even the same mid-life crisis insecurity issue that we had ben building up to during the rest of the season three! 

Conclusion 

So that was the last decent episode of Tangled the Series. It’s still heavily flawed and some people rightly hate it for the character assignations it commits, but it’s at least serviceable. Especially in comparison to the next episode. Next up we’ll tackle the very worst episode of the entire show, Once a Handmaiden....  

[kaythefloppa]

"Rapunzel was a bad friend by ignoring Cassandra!"

"Cassandra is the actual bad guy here! Raps did nothing wrong"

They are both in the fucking wrong here. Rapunzel for being unempathetic and disregarding Cass's opinions, and Cassandra for being a spoiled brat who seeks petty validation [oblivious to the validation she has gotten throughout the past 2 seasons of the show] and deciding to end the friendship only because of what Rapunzel could not control. And when they finally stop going at each other's throats, they never improve: Cassandra still mopes about not being validated enough and turns the situation into about her "failing" and Rapunzel pats her on the ass just because she knows that her stupidly holding a hand out for Cass has worked out for her in the end and thinks that it outweighs all the nasty shit she did before.

Some friendships are abusive. Some are toxic. In many cases, it's one person being a total asshole to the other. Like with Rapunzel and Varian. But in other cases, sometimes two people can be the biggest pieces of shit to each other because they just do not deserve each other at all. The blame cannot be heaped onto one person in this case. By doing so, you're blaming one side for certain things they had no control of and completely disregarding the atrocities of the other side.

And no, Cassandra running away into the forest, never to be seen again despite how much spin-off baiting Chris had planted on his channel, does not count as a break-up because it's defined by the previous "reconciliation" mentioned above, and not Rapunzel, nor Cass ever make it clear that they are cutting all ties with each other altogether.

And here's the thing, this could've been fixed. Even in the finale where the BS reconciliation was apparent, there could've been one last hope. Just have an extra episode that divorces itself from the final battle with Zhan Tiri. Have Cass face punishment for her actions, but retain her friendship with Rapunzel, but then address both girl's flaws and end the friendship off then and there, and have Cassandra leaving Corona to move on with her life and the separated girls actually improve. If the show was going to do a slow-burn, it should've been with both Cassandra and Rapunzel rightfully giving each other the chewing out they deserve and ending it, rather than the heavily queer-coded "will they won't they" bullcrap we got in S3:

TLDR: They're both in the wrong. Stop trying to favor one over the other. They were both murdered by the terrible writing of Season 3 and we were forced to watch their petty bitch fight unfold up to the very end

[littlemisslol-fic]

The Silent Opera

Chapter Six: Out of Tune

Summary: In a world populated by Soulmates— people drawn together by wordless music connecting them to their destined other half— Varian is an anomaly. He is Songless, someone without a Soulmate of his own. He makes due with the cards dealt to him, used to being the castle oddity by now, but when an interesting blond takes up residence in the castle, he can't help but be drawn to him.

Hugo, on the other hand, is horrified to find that not only is his Soulmate a palace brat, but that Varian doesn't hear him back— meaning Hugo is trapped in a one-sided bond. When presented with a horrible choice between completing the theft Donella had sent him to do, or taking a frightening step into vulnerability, Hugo finds himself at an impasse he just might not be able to charm his way out of.

And then politics get involved.

Notes: Hey everyone! Things are rolling hehehehe, let's goooooo! On one note, we have TWO (?!?!??!!) beautiful fanarts for last week's chapter, one from notapeaceful duck (bless ur heart <3) over here, and the other from wallywestfest, which is over here!! They're both absolutely stunning, so please give them some love if you haven't already!! Thank you so much guys!!

Varian can’t help but feel spread thin.

The Socrians have wormed their way into castle life, constantly demanding, constantly present, constantly there— like a barnacle, or a scar that just won’t heal. It’s probably wrong to think that about… well, about someone he’ll be stuck with for the rest of his life. Landis remains… fine, always looming, always popping up around corners and being awkward and—

Rapunzel had told Varian to give Landis a chance, but Varian couldn’t help but not want this. The urge to dig in his heels and refuse this whole charade rings so strongly in his chest that he nearly gives in. But too much is riding on all this… on him. His friends, his family, the people who he’d hurt so much, and in turn had forgiven him with time and patience. Varian knows he owes them— there’s a debt there that he cannot ever hope to repay. If a lifetime with an awkward partner is all it takes to keep them from the brink of war, then the choice is clear. The deal is too good to ignore.

He and Landis are out on the terrace. The older man had showed up at the door to Varian’s lab— something he’d been doing a lot of, recently— and asked if Varian would accompany him to lunch. It’s been nearly a month of this, of Landis requesting time, energy, and attention from Varian with stilted words and awkward bows. Varian always says yes, though that’s more about not being able to say no.

Varian can’t help but slouch, picking at his little finger sandwich listlessly. It’s even ham, one of his favorites, and yet he can’t find it within himself to be hungry. Instead, he entertains himself with sneaking food to Ruddiger, making a game out of how many carrot-sticks he can get to his pet without Landis noticing.

The brunet pulls a face when he sees the raccoon swirling around the table, purring as he chows down on his snack.

“Is it really allowed in here?” he asks, moving his foot away when Ruddiger tries to sniff it. “It’s vermin, isn’t it?”

Varian’s nose scrunches. “Ruddy’s tame. He’s really very nice, you just need to give him some time to get used to you.”

“It’s unsanitary.”

Ruddiger chirps in offense, moving to sit near Varian again. Landis’ mouth pulls down into a deep frown. “It’s not coming back to Socria with us; my estate management would never approve.”

Varian feels the first swell of offense, bending over to pick up Ruddiger and hold him in his lap. He has to bite at the inside of his cheek to stay civil. “Where I go, Ruddiger goes.” His tone is hard, much more than he’s ever used with their guest before. “He’s my best friend.”

“How sad.” It’s not a joke. Varian’s pretty sure Landis doesn’t know how to make jokes. A prickle works its way up his spine, one that makes him think of Hugo: deep and profound irritation.

“He’s a pet,” Varian reiterates, “more specifically my pet. He won’t cause trouble for your estate, and if he does I’ll deal with it. Did you not have pets as a kid?” He holds Ruddiger like one would a baby, scratching the raccoon’s tummy. Ruddiger squeals, pushing himself toward Varian’s hand for more attention. Landis’ lip curls.

“I didn’t,” he says, “though my father had hunting dogs. They were work animals; when they got old he’d replace them.”

Varian swallows thickly, hugging Ruddiger just a bit tighter. “I… oh.” He’s not sure why exactly that’s so sad; he’s seen more than a few old dogs hit retirement age, one of Quirin’s friends had even bred the things, but he’d never heard of someone who fully replaced them. Usually, they’d spend their sunset years in front of a fire or going to a family who wanted an old dog just to love. He’d never heard of someone just ditching a dog. It seemed almost astonishingly cruel.

📷Landis doesn’t seem to notice Varian’s pale face, instead opting to pick up an olive on a toothpick and eat it. “It’s only natural,” he says, through his chewing. “When something isn’t useful, you get rid of it. That’s how things work.”

His arms tighten around Ruddiger. Is that how things work in Socria? It certainly isn’t like that in Corona. It hurts his heart to think of animals being treated like that—like Ruddiger being treated like that. Varian knows he must look like a fool, mouth gaping at the statement and the idea— but Landis just shrugs.

“I guess you can keep it,” he says, swallowing his olive. He looks down at the raccoon in Varian’s arms, before rolling his eyes. “How long do they live? Maybe we can make use of it then… there’s a man in Socria who makes hats out of their pelts, apparently they’re worth quite a bit of gold.”

📷A wave of nausea washes over Varian. He presses his mouth into the crown of Ruddiger’s head, both seeking comfort in his pet and also silently vowing to protect him— even though the raccoon obviously doesn’t know what’s being said. Varian feels a twist in his stomach at the thought. Who the hell offers to make someone’s pet into a hat? Landis continues talking, eyeing up another small sandwich, completely ignorant to the distress he’s caused.

“You know, I was on a hunt, when my Song stopped, but that day we did actually pull quite a few pelts. My father took them, so I never bothered to figure out how much they traded for— now I’m curious.”

Wait…

Wait.

“When— your what?” Varian manages to choke out the question, just barely getting it past the weird emotions in his chest. Landis looks up from his plate, arching a brow.

“The Song,” he says flatly. “You know, the reason we’re both here? I was on a hunt when it stopped. Nearly knocked me off my horse.” He chuckles then, but there’s no mirth.

But that doesn’t line up.

Alarm bells begin to subtly ring in Varian’s mind, the alchemist combing through his memories. He could have sworn…

“Didn’t you say you were asleep?”

Varian’s question rings. Landis pauses, halfway through the motion of eating a spoonful of pea soup. He puts the spoon down, looking at Varian and tilting his head.

“When was I asleep?” he asks. Varian just catches the way his fingers twitch. Something isn’t right. The twist of discomfort gets tighter in his chest, urging him to dig deeper, to pry. He knows what he heard. Varian bites the inside of his lip, looking to their unaware guest; something’s shady. His eyes narrow, not backing down.

“When we first met, you told me your Song had stopped when you were asleep,” the alchemist explains. “You said that you just woke up and it was quiet. That’s how you knew your Soulmate was gone. But just now you said you were on a hunt.”

Landis barks out a laugh, looking back to his food. “I don’t think I did,” he says, “you must be misremembering. I was on a hunt with some of my men; there’s a large forest behind Dorgoil House, it’s perfect for hunting for deer. I was around fifteen so it was a good idea to stay close to home.”

Wrong again.

Varian isn’t stupid. He knows what he heard. Landis must pick up that he’s not convinced; the brunet huffs as he stirs his meal.

“You must have misheard me,” he says. “Do you really think I don’t know when my own Soulmate died? Really, Varian, why would I lie about that?”

Varian's suspicion curls into shame.

“Right,” he mumbles, “I must have been mistaken. Sorry.”

Landis plucks another olive from the tray. After he eats it, he uses the toothpick to point at Ruddiger. “It’s fine,” he says. “As I was saying, you can bring it along—just make sure to keep that thing away from the hunting dogs.” He laughs then, but Varian can’t find the joke. Landis flicks the toothpick off the balcony, uncaring, before meeting Varian’s eye with a humored smile.

“If it gets too close, they’ll tear it to shreds.”

—————♪—————

Varian, despite his best intentions, can seem to chase that conversation out of his thoughts. At first he just stews over it, mulling over everything in his head— he could have sworn Landis had said he was seventeen, asleep, that he’d woken up to Silence— combing through his memories to see where the hell he’d picked up this wrong thought that stuck out so directly; he can’t find it, but that doesn’t stop his mind from gnawing on the topic like a dog on a bone.

He’s sitting in the lab, tapping on the table with a pen as he thinks. Varian’s supposed to be watching Seventeen the Plant and his twenty-nine siblings, but the alchemist’s wheels keep spinning in the mud. Because Landis hadn’t soundedlike he’d been lying— he’d spoken with the same flat cadence he always did— but it was a splinter in Varian’s mind. Needling, digging deeper the more he thought about it.

The alchemist huffs, pushing away his notepad. He looks over to the plants, frowning slightly when he doesn’t see much change since they’d been planted. He’d been hoping for a more visible change by now, but it seems like the stubborn things just aren’t willing to work with him.

He perks up at the sound of footsteps, snatching his notebook and opening to a random page. If he looks busy, maybe they’ll leave him alone—

“Hey, goggles, how are the kids?”

Oh, Hugo.

Maybe he can spare some time.

“They’re fine,” he says, closing the book again. “I wish they’d grow a little faster, but I’m sure they’re doing their best.”

Hugo snorts, approaching the table. He gently places a bag down in front of Varian, right on top of the open notebook. It’s warm. In his other hand he holds a second paper bag, a basic brown one that’s crumpled at the top. Varian’s is too; Hugo must have been holding them tightly.

The blond plunks himself down around the corner from Varian, so that they’re just beside each other. He puts his own bag on the table, tilting his head to get a look at Seventeen.

“Still nothing, huh?” he asks, frowning.

“Well, Seventeen grew a new leaf,” Varian admits, “and four through eight have gained about two inches of height since we last measured… but not much else has happened.”

“Bummer.” Hugo cracks his bag open. A wonderfully sweet smell drifts from it, making Varian’s stomach growl. He reaches for his own bag— slightly concerning, he hadn’t asked Hugo for anything— and looks in, his eyes going wide in delight. Hugo must see the look on his face, the blond beginning to snicker.

“It’s chocolate tart day in the kitchens,” he says flippantly. “A little birdy told me you liked them, so I snuck down and grabbed some.”

Little birdy— Rapunzel. Of course.

“Well. Uh. Thank you.” Varian scoops the tart up in his hand, quickly taking a bite before it can get cold. He can’t help the smile that spreads across his face at the taste— sweet and fudgy and oh so good— even when Hugo begins to laugh at him again. Varian doesn’t even care, he’ll kill Hugo later, for now he’s just going to enjoy himself.

Hugo eats his own food, stuffing half the thing into his face without a care in the world. It’s just a simple egg tart, interesting. Hugo makes a weird, questioning noise, and tilts his head as he chews, reading Varian’s notes with a confused face. He swallows thickly, eyes bugging a bit before he manages to get his snack down. Varian’s just grateful that he does—he’s not about to deal with Hugo choking to death in his lab.

“What’s going on with this page?” he asks, for once sounding completely confused. Varian looks down to the page, his face going red at his scribbling about Landis. It must look like the ravings of a lunatic, from an outside perspective. He quickly tries to cover it with his hands, feeling a hot wave of mortification wash over him.

“Nothing!” he says quickly, “nothing at all, just some scribbling—”

“Aw, c’mon, what is it?” Hugo’s face goes downright devious, reaching for the book. Varian nearly shrieks, trying to pull it away, only to get flicked on the nose by one of Hugo’s long fingers. He yelps, covering it with his hands at the sting; Hugo takes his chance, snatching the book and dancing away, even as Varian follows him in a panic.

“Hugo!” he snaps. “Give it back! It’s nothing, don’t look!”

Varian nearly snarls as Hugo holds out a hand, catching him by the face. Due to the height difference, Varian’s flailing arms can’t reach the blond in order to save his book. Fucking hell, now everyone in the castle is going to know—

Hugo tilts his head, holding the journal with the hand not currently holding Varian at bay. “What is this?” he asks, pulling a face. “I can’t make heads or tails of it; are you writing in code?”

Varian finally manages to slap Hugo’s hand away, ducking under him and grabbing the book. “It’s nothing,” he insists, “and even if it was something, that something would be none of your business!”

Hugo sighs, putting his hands on his hips. “You’ve been stressed,” he says, point blank. Varian cringes, opening his mouth to deny it, but Hugo cuts him off. “No, c’mon. We both know it’s been weird lately. Maybe getting things off your chest would help?”

Varian scoffed, shaking his head. “And who made you the emotional support, here?”

Hugo rolls his eyes, dropping back into his chair. “Fine, fuck it, be a brick wall,” he mutters. “Don’t come crying to me when you have a nervous breakdown.”

Varian… pauses. His chocolate tart, growing cold, sits on the table. The alchemist’s tired brain can barely puzzle through what’s happening—until he finally breaks through the wall and figures it out. Hugo was trying to make him feel better, in his own stupid way. Varian couldn’t help but feel a little touched; he let out a sigh, walking back to the table and sitting down next to Hugo.

“Fine,” he said, “it’s something to do with Landis—”

“—Prick.”

“Yes. But listen. A while ago we were talking, and I mentioned that I’ve. Uh. Never heard the Song, right?”

Hugo nods, popping a piece of egg tart into his mouth. “Mh-hm,” he says, chewing. Varian’s finger taps at the tabletop, a sharp rap-rap. How to phrase this and not sound like a raving lunatic…

“He told me that he was asleep, and that he’d woken up and his Song had gone quiet. And that he was seventeen, okay?”

“Okay?” It comes out more like m-kay, with the way Hugo’s still eating, but Varian takes it for what it is.

“Right. So, just now, at brunch, he just said a whole new story? That he was fifteen, and on a hunt. And when I asked him about it, he said I must have misheard him, but I’m sure I didn’t. Or at least— I don’t think I did?” He sighs, scratching the back of his neck. “Maybe I’m going crazy, I don’t know…”

Hugo swallows his food, squints, and shakes his head. “Nah, that’s weird.” He’s not meeting Varian’s eye, looking off to the side in thought. “You’re sure that’s what you heard?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why the fuck would he lie?”

“That’s what he asked, but I don’t know—”

“No, goggles, you’re mishearing me. I don’t think he’s not lying; I’m asking why he’s lying.” Hugo shrugs, pursing his lips. “If you say he’s not telling the truth, then he’s not. But why? What does he gain?”

Varian pauses at that. His mouth clicks shut, the countless defenses he’d been thinking of turning to dust in light of Hugo just… believing him. It’s a strange feeling, not one he’s used to— but Hugo definitely seems more enticed by the idea of trying to catch Landis in a lie than he does in disbelieving Varian. It’s a good change of pace, from the rest of the castle staff.

“I’m not sure,” Varian admits. “But I’m not crazy.”

Hugo nods, smirking. “Not from this, at least.” Varian punches him in the arm, making the blond laugh. The alchemist’s stomach flutters at the sound; it rings so genuinely, so unlike anything he’s heard from Hugo yet… hm. Hugo shoves at Varian’s shoulder in retaliation, a weak little push that makes him giggle, before settling down again.

“It’s also weird that he tried to turn it on you,” the blond says. “I don’t like that he made it seem like it was your fault that you caught him in a lie.”

That’s… a good point. Varian scratches at his cheek, feeling that same hot shame from before beginning to creep back in. Maybe he was imagining it, he’d been so stressed lately; but he wasn’t imagining it, right? Landis had sounded so sure… Varian doesn’t know what to think.

“Either way, that’s suspicious.” Hugo says it flatly, like he’s already accepted it as truth. “I bet if I did some poking around I could find out what happened—”

“No, the hell you won’t,” Varian stops him there. “If you get caught somewhere you’re not supposed to, it would be a political nightmare. Don’t even think about it.”

Hugo pouts, deflating playfully. “Not even a little snooping? How boring.”

Varian can’t help the smile that cracks across his face. “Yeah, well I like your head attached to your shoulders, thanks. Socria is even worse on its criminals than Corona was… is. Is.”

Hugo gulps. Varian just catches as Hugo lifts his hand, obviously about to grasp at his own throat before changing the movement to scratch at the back of his neck. Interesting.

“Anyways.” He manages to get the journal back from Hugo, closing it softly. “Maybe it was just a slip up. Maybe it wasn’t. I don’t suppose it’ll change much, in the end.”

Hugo’s mouth opens like he wants to say something. Varian just catches a twitch in his eye before Hugo’s jaw snaps shut with a click— interesting.

“Anyways,” he says, not meeting Hugo’s eye. “I don’t know what game Landis is playing… but thank you, for believing me. I think I’ve been stuck around Nigel for too long, I’m used to having to defend everything.”

Hugo shrugs, picking up Seventeen and chuckling at the joke. He shoots Varian a wink, wiggling the plant.

“Only the best for my co-parent,” he says, playing up the schmooze in his voice. “We have to give Seventeen and Co. a stable home life.”

“Hm, is stable the word for what we’ve got going on?”

“Oh, absolutely, if you want to see unstable there was this family in Koto I once met, all of them were absolutely crazy; you wouldn’t believe—”

Varian lets a smile creep across his face, balancing his chin on his hand and planting his elbow so that he can listen. He can’t help but watch the play of sunlight in Hugo’s eye as the blond gets really into his story, right down to different voices and big, showy gestures with his hands. Varian lets it wash over him, concerns of Landis and fear of the future slowly leaving his thoughts as Hugo’s nearly lyrical voice fills his ears.

He lets the tension bleed from his spine, relaxing for the first time in hours. Something about being here, in the lab, with good company—it was so easy to just let himself slip back into normalcy. To let the stress fade away and get caught up in Hugo’s stories. Here he could let himself relax.

If only for a little while longer.

—————♪—————

As seems to be the case, lately, Landis eventually shows up to ruin the fun.

When the brunet enters the lab he doesn’t even bother knocking anymore, a factor that sets Hugo’s teeth on edge; sure, ponce, just waltz in like you own the fucking place, why not?

The second Varian sees him he freezes. The Song makes a weird little skip, something akin to irritation mixed with suspicion and anxiety— a veritable cocktail of negative emotions that race through Hugo’s thoughts screaming AnnoyanceIrritationUnsettlement—

Hugo grits his teeth against it. He has to keep his face blank, holding it together lest one of the others catch his act. That doesn’t make staying strong against the torrent any easier, however. Varian eventually gets himself under control, standing from his seat and waving awkwardly.

“Landis,” he greets, “I, uh, didn’t expect you here— not that uh, you’re unwelcome, sorry, just—”

Varian’s hand flails backward, trying to close the journal. Fuck. Hugo reaches over without breaking his stare at their unwelcome visitor, gently closing it without incident. There’s a flash of gratefulness through the Song, relief shimmering through for just a second before getting dragged back down. Varian puts himself between Landis and Hugo, leaning against the table like he’s trying to hide his entire lab from prying eyes.

“Varian.” Landis’ voice is flat; his face pinches when he catches sight of Hugo. “And friend. I assume you’re not busy?”

Varian looks back to their plants, face going a little red. “Uh, kind of? We’re running a few trials of an accelerator for plant growth… oh! Do you want to see it? I promise it’s really fascinating, the science of it is just amazing—”

“Hm. No thank you. I’m afraid I don’t have time to listen about such… things.”

Varian deflates at that. The Song rings with disappointment, a sad little stutter in the beat that makes Hugo twitch.

“Hey—” he starts, standing up and laying his hands flat on the table, only to be cut off by Varian waving him down.

“That’s, uh, that’s fine, Landis. Can I help you with anything?”

Landis looks around their— around Varian’s lab, eyes narrowed. “I came down here to remind you to be ready for tomorrow night,” he says, “though now I’m not going to lie; I’m a little concerned that you’re going to want to take all this with you.”

“Well, I—I mean, not all of it, but maybe a bit—”

“Because you’ll have to leave such childish things behind, of course.”

Varian’s spine goes stiff. The silence of the lab suddenly thickens, enough to smother— enough to choke. Hugo opens his mouth again, ready to tell the ponce what for, but Varian beats him to it.

“Of course. Is there anything else?”

Landis shrugs, poking at one of the instruments to his left. It’s a delicate one; a little copper arm snaps off when he touches it. Hugo winces, watching it fall to the ground. It makes a loud ting when it hits the stone floor, the noise echoing through the awkwardly quiet lab. Varian’s Song pitches with frustration as the arm bounces. Landis only shrugs and makes for the door again— fucking prick.

“No, just make sure to be ready for five, tomorrow. Being late wouldn’t look good on either of us.”

Varian doesn’t reply. Landis simply leaves the room without so much as a goodbye, instead stalking from the room without a care. Hugo twitches as the Song rumbles, a stormy mixture of rage and offense… all undercut by the tiniest bit of hurt. He doesn’t even know what to say, let alone what to do…

But he has to try something.

“Hey,” he says softly, putting a hand on Varian’s shoulder. “Hey, fuck that guy—”

Varian jostles his hand away roughly, startling back to life like a machine that had just been turned on and moving to pick up the broken piece. He sighs, scooping the little copper bit off the ground.

“It’s fine.”

Hugo crosses his arms, leaning up against the table as Varian does his best to affix the arm back onto the machine it had fallen from. “I’ll be honest,” he says, “it reallydoesn’t sound fine.”

“Well it is. So drop it.”

Hm. I think the fuck not.

Hugo rolls his eyes, slouching back down into his chair. “I still don’t get why you’re so… normal, about that,” he mutters.

Varian blinks. “With what?”

“With the whole—” Hugo waves a hand, “—marriage thing. You’re going to get stuck with that guy, and you’re just okay with it?”

“I’m sorry, did I make it sound like this was my idea?” Varian snaps before he can think better of it. He obviously regrets it the second it’s out in the open, wincing. “I… okay. Hear me out. I may not like Landis very much—” A fucking understatement, “—but Songless people alone are an anomaly. There’s maybe a few thousand of us out there, if that. Add in the extra layer of nobility, and it becomes quite… slim pickings.”

Hugo tilts his head, digesting the new information. “How many are out there?” he asks.

“Fifteen total that I know of,” Varian says, “including myself and Landis. There’s only three others in the Seven Kingdoms, and two are already married to each other. The third is a young princess from Pitchford, but she’s only fourteen.”

Hugo suddenly feels ill.

“So.” Varian’s trying to keep his tone flat; he speaks like someone who’s used to explaining this— probably to his sister, seeing how against this whole thing Rapunzel is. “Countries want to make agreements with each other. Some of them are friendly enough that contracts and treaties are enough. Others… not so much.” Oh, fucking hell.

“Socria was allied with an old enemy of Corona, ages ago. Saporia. Even if we’ve annexed it, Socria still have never had a good relationship with us because of that.”

“Meaning…?”

“Meaning they don’t trust us to keep our end of the bargain. Remember Equis? If they decided to march on our borders, as our ally Socria would agree to join in defending us. In return, Frederick offered access to trade routes, and a lot of freedom from import and export taxes.”

Hugo groans, rubbing at his temples. “Goggles, simplify it for me. How does this translate into you getting hitched with the ponce?”

Varian scowls, throwing his hands up. “Because Landis and I are the only people who don’thave Soulmates on this stupid fucking continent. Everyone else already has their partners picked out. If we got married, there’s more skin in the game. We’d have to keep our word. Does that clear it up?”

For an impulsive, horrible second, Hugo wants to blurt out the truth. It doesn’t clear anything up— I hear you, I hear you, but you don’t hear me, is it my fault? Did I do this? We can fix this; all I have to do is Sing—

But Donella would kill him.

Hugo’s lips pinch together, like he’s pushing words back into his throat before they can escape. Donella would fucking kill you, if you blew this job for a pretty boy and a sad Song. He shoves the confession down, burying it deep.

“It sounds… complicated,” he finally says. Varian huffs a laugh, nodding. He leans up against the table, crossing his arms.

“And that’s the simple version.”

Hugo looks down to the table, picking at a splinter that’s begun to come loose. “It still seems… I don’t know. Not right. He’s a dick, Varian!”

Varian’s smile falls. He’s obviously trying to keep from fidgeting, but he must fail; his hands wind up tapping on the table again. “I… yeah. It’s not great. Like I said, Landis isn’t exactly who I’d pick, either. But in a positive light, I’ve been thinking of all the ways this will keep my family safe.” He looks down then, blinking away a brightness in his eyes. “Soulmates are basically arranged marriages too, just ones set up by the Song instead of politics. At least this way I know some good will come out of it.”

Hugo pulls a face, shaking his head. “Soulmates aren’t like that.” I’m not like that. His voice tremors, just the smallest bit. “The Song doesn’t pick your Soulmate, it just… helps you find them. Offers a little insight.”

Varian’s fingers tap a bit faster on the table. He makes a noncommittal noise. “How do you know?” he asks. It’s not accusatory but it’s an honest question. “How do you know they’re the perfect person, if you’ve been waiting for them?”

Fuck, this is a balancing act. Hugo pauses, blinking, but… hm. He can offer a bit of truth, can’t he?

“Because I haven’t been,” he admits.

Varian tilts his head at that, meeting Hugo’s eye. The blond blushes, not so much ashamed or embarrassed at his history, but more so that he’s admitting it to Varian—

“I’ve dated people before,” he continues. “Had a lot of good nights with people I didn’t really know.” He shrugs, then, scratching at his face. “I didn’t wait for my Soulmate. I didn’t think I’d ever find them. So, I had a bit… well, a lot of fun in the meantime.”

The Song falters a bit, the torrent of upset and anger fading slightly. He knows that Varian won’t judge him for this, he does, so why the fuck is Hugo so nervous—

But Varian only tilts his head. “I understand that.” He says it quietly, slowly. Like he’s lost in memory. “I’ve had a couple people try and see if I’d like to fool around,” he laughs, but it’s without mirth. “I guess when you’re Songless, people think you’re free game. Or desperate.”

Hugo winces, shaking his head. “Fuck them,” he says, voice wavering. “They don’t know shit. But I didn’t mean it like that.”

Varian’s head tilt gets more pronounced. Hugo sighs, scratching the back of his head. His words come faster now, tumbling over themselves as he tries to get his point across. “I’m— fuck, okay, so I’ve always been too busy to really care about the Song, right?”

Varian nods. Those blue eyes stare at him, transfixed, and fuck it’s not making this any easier.

“So, I don’t know, I just decided to have a good time without it, right? But I know that, out there, even if the Song wasn’t there… I think I’d end up drawn to them, anyways. It’s not a matchmaker; it doesn’t choose for us. It just… gives us a push.”

Varian’s eyes are wide. For a brutal, quiet second neither of them says anything— fuck, Hugo’s so stupid, he’s gotten too mushy and weird and now Varian’s going to laugh at him…

“That’s… I didn’t think of it. Like that.” Varian wrings his hands together, not meeting Hugo’s eye. “I guess since it’s not… not for me, I never gave the Song a fair shake. That wasn’t fair.”

He moves then, gently bumping Hugo’s shoulder as he walks past. “Thanks for the insight, Hugo,” he says. He passes by, slumping back down into his chair. Varian pauses, meeting Hugo’s eye with a small smile. “It’s nice to know I’m not the only unconventional one, around here.”

Hugo can’t help it; he laughs. Varian joins in, little giggles that— while not the full laugh Hugo’s come to enjoy prying out of him— are a much better option than the tears that had threatened to spill. They giggle together like children, light and lyrical and loose, without a care in the world. The Song trills with amusement, filling Hugo’s very Soul with joy. It’s like he’s eaten pure sunshine; it’s perfect.

“Okay,” Varian manages to get out through the laughter, “enough of that sentimental crap in my lab. We still have work to do; Seventeen and his friends won’t wait forever.”

Hugo snorts, picking up one of the plants with a fluid motion. He knows a fumbling topic change when he sees one— might as well throw Varian a line.

“Of course, sweetcheeks.”

—————♪—————

It’s late when Hugo gets back to his room. He and Varian had stayed up late, running tests and taking measurements on their plants. A few of the beanstalks had shown promise, hopefully with a bit more time and energy they’d be able to really start looking into a full test run. He’s not so sure when he got invested in the plant thing— maybe he got brain damage at some point and forgot— but Hugo’s been presented with a puzzle, and his big dumb brain just can’t help itself.

He finally makes it to his room at around one in the morning— way too fucking late, in his opinion. By the end of the night Hugo’s tired body had been begging to be put to bed, but if Varian was awake then by the gods Hugo wasn’t about to get upstaged by going to bed first. It’s a matter of pride, damn it.

He kicks the door open with a yawn. It swings into the small, dark room, only barely lit by the lamplight coming from the hallway behind Hugo; he steps in, rubbing his eye and reaching blindly for his own lamp with little success.

“Fucking— son of a bitch—” Hugo mutters, smacking around in the dark until he finally finds the switch. The room fills with light, forcing Hugo to blink a few times from the sudden change. It’s not the biggest of rooms— just a basic bed, a desk, a small table and shelf— but honestly it’s better than some of the hovels he’s stayed in under Donella’s orders, so honestly he’ll take it without complaint.

Hugo sighs, sinking down onto the bed. Fuckhe’s tired…

He slowly takes his boots off, his feet hurting from a long day. Usually this would be when he’d be scouting out the area around the vault but… not tonight. He’s got time. At least, a bit of time. He tosses his glasses onto the side table, barely caring as they nearly fall, and instead sinks into the bed.

The blond doesn’t even bother to take off the rest of his clothes, instead opting to flop face first into his pillow with a groan. Blessed, sweet softness… that is immediately ruined by the crinkle of paper.

“Fucksake,” he whines. He should leave it to tomorrow, could leave it to tomorrow, but there’s only one person in the entire world who would send him a letter— and it’s not someone who liked to be ignored. Hugo cracks his eyes open, reaching over and taking the envelope that had been left on his pillow. It’s addressed to him, though it uses the fake last name he’s using; there’s no mistaking who it’s from.

“Alright, Donnie,” he mutters, “what do you have for me?”

He cracks it open, the wax seal popping open. He pulls the letter from it, skimming it. Blah, blah, mission is very important, blah, require more updates— oh.

You’ll need to wait until the Day of Hearts, Donella’s written, in scratchy, stilted script. You’ve only been there for two months, it’s still too soon to make a move. Better to do it while there are thousands of visitors to the castle, when you’ll be nearly untraceable.

Hugo sighs, rubbing his hand down his face. She’s right, of course she is: Donella is alwaysfucking right. But it means staying in the castle for much longer than he’d anticipated. Usually, Hugo’s in and out within a few months— though, this is the largest job he’s ever been trusted with. It’s not surprising that she wants to play a longer game. The problem, though, is that means Hugo’s spending longer with the castle staff, with the guards, with Rapunzel, and Eugene, and…

And with Varian.

He should tell Donella. She should know that he’s already toed the line, that he’s starting to crack—

It’s been two months. One third of the time Donella had given him to get the jewels. The Song gets more insistent every day, a tugging hook embedded right through the ribcage. It’s growing more and more dire, the Song demanding its dues. Hugo doesn’t want to think about it, doesn’t want to even acknowledge it, but…

Donella would fucking kill him if he didn’t say anything.

She isn’t an unreasonable woman. She knows how Resonating hits a person, how important it is; Hugo knows that if he comes clean, she’d work with him. She’s not insane. He has to trust in her judgement. Donella would fix it, just like she always does when he fucks up.

He flips through the rest of the letter, mostly the basic stuff. Cyrus will be in town during the Day of Hearts. The plan hasn’t changed a bit. All Hugo has to do is get the crown out of the castle, then turn around and act innocent for another few weeks before it’s time to go home. Easy.

Easy.

Hugo groans, letting his head fall back. It hits the wall with a thunk, but he barely registers the pain through his whirling thoughts. He’s here for a job, he has to remember that. Varian doesn’t even hear him back, why the fuck would he ever want anything to do with Hugo by the end of this? He might bitch about his betrothed, but even Landis is a better prospect than some grubby street thief…

And that’s the crux, isn’t it?

Hugo knows he’s from a totally different world from these people, from Varian. He knows that they’ve never spent a night going hungry, never had to deal with gangs, or finding a safe place to sleep; they don’t know the fear that comes with not knowing where to go to get warm in the dead of winter. Hugo does. He knows it like it’s been tattooed onto his skin, embedded into his very self.

The niggling doubt crawls into his thoughts, pushing the Song to the back and forcing itself to the forefront. The constant push of not good enough, strange, not worth a Soulmate, useless—

Varian doesn’t hear Hugo because they’re not compatible. After all is said and done, Varian isn’t for him. Without a Song to bind him, he doesn’t have a reason to stay with Hugo, to stay at all. A knot develops in Hugo’s throat at the thought, especially as the Song dips low. Varian, wherever he is, has fallen asleep.

Hugo groans, rubbing his eyes. Maker, he’s so fucked; either he’s going to pine himself to death, or Donella is going to crack him over the head with a pole and kill him to shut him up. Either would be okay, honestly, so long as Hugo gets to fucking sleep. He would kill for the world to stop fucking turning for a while so he can get his shit together.

Hugo gets to the end of the letter, Donella reminding him one last time to keep his head screwed on straight. If only she knew.

He sighs, grabbing a piece of paper and a quill off the nearby nightstand. He only pauses a second before jotting down everything that’s happened, trying his best to act like he’s not having a fucking crisis about it. It doesn’t really work, but at least it’s down. He sighs, shaking his head and folding it tightly. He seals it, leaving it on the desk. He’ll send it tomorrow, for better or worse. Maybe she’ll be able to set his shit straight… or at least tell him what to do. She’s never failed in steering him in the right direction, come hell or high water. He trusts her judgment.

A slight weight lifts off his shoulders. Keeping Resonating to himself had been… almost painful, the inherent joy stamped out like a flickering ember. At least someone other than him knows, now. The relief is palpable. Hugo reaches over, flipping the switch again and plunging the room into darkness. He settles back into bed, his eyes slipping closed. Sleep takes him quickly, the gentle lull of Varian’s Song pulling him into the dark.

He just needs to wait for Donella to make a plan.

She’d know what to do.

[darklove9314-blog]

Family : A Nessian Fanfic

Day 19 of Nessian month: Prompt: Nessian bonding with the IC.

Nesta gazed upon Cassian, Her hand firmly in his as Cassian knocked on the front doors of the river house, Feyre opened the door, a smile on her face, a hand pressed firmly to her swollen stomach before a five year old Nyx grinned at the sight of his aunt and uncle flinging himself in his aunt’s arms.

“Aunt Nes! You came!” Nyx exclaimed. A happy chuckle escaping her lips.

“Of course I came. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.“ Nesta smiled as Cassian cocked his head to the side staring at Nyx.

“What? No love for your favorite uncle?” He stated as Nyx’s eyes widened with excitement

“Is Uncle Az with you?” He questioned causing Nesta to hold in her laugh. Only five years old and he already mastered the art of a good come back. Even Feyre was reining in her smile.

“Say hi to your other uncle, sweetie.“ Feyre encouraged him as he wiggled himself out of Nesta’s arms and hugged Cassian.

“Hi Uncle Cass.“ He greeted. Nesta had no real idea why Nyx had grown more of an attachment to her than Cassian, but she guessed she would never really know that answer. Kids were always a mystery.

“Come inside, we’re just getting to cutting the cake.“ Feyre explained as Nesta and Cassian entered Nyx holding onto Feyre‘s hand.

Cassian‘s hand slid into hers before they entered the sitting area. Several of Nyx’s friends gathered around a table as he chatted away. He really was a social one.

Cassian pulled out a chair for Nesta, she thanked him as they took a spot beside Mor who greeted Casan with a hug.

“Long time, no see, stranger.” Mor greeted. Her smile dazzling across the whole room.

“That’s what happens when you go to the court of Nightmares for a whole six months.“

Mor shrugged taking a sip of her wine.

“It’s not easy to undo the damage the years have caused there, but perhaps in a few more years The Court of Nightmares will be a thing of the past and it can start anew.”

A fresh start. Something that a lot of the Night Court had needed. progress was slow, but nothing ever happened over night.

Nesta‘s eyes drew to Cassian, the curve of his lips at his friends accomplishment. The determination she had showed to take over the Court of Nightmares after her fathers passing and do what she thought she should have always done. Made more dreamers in the city of Nightmares. Nesta had even offered her assistance if Mor ever became overwhelmed. Which she had appreciated.

“How are things in Illyria?” Mor asked, her eyebrows raised in question at Cassian, who’s own smiled beamed, his arm going around Nesta. Pride shone in them with their accomplishments.

“We finally managed to convince Devlon to combine a two small units made up of both Illyrian and Valkeryie warriors. One of them are the younger generations who wish to become apart of the ranks and the others are the ones who have already went through the rite.”

“That’s amazing, I knew you two could do it.” Mor smiled looking over to Nesta.

“I couldn’t have done it without the steel will determination of my mate,“ Cassian explained pressing a kiss to the side of her temple.

“Don’t forget Emerie and Gwyn.” Nesta added.

“How could I ever?” Cassian smiled pressing a kiss to her hair.

“I thought the mating bond was supposed to die down some after a couple of years?” Amren asked sliding down in a chair, Varian by her side.

Cassian smirked at her. “You know that’s not how that works.“

“I dread the day you procreate boy. Hopefully the babe has its mother’s smarts.“

“I hope so too.“ Cassian told her making Nesta feel warm in her chest.

She had been thinking a lot about having children lately. Been having dreams of Cassian filling her with life. thinking of the one they would create together. Been gazing at the tea she had been using as her birth control for the past five years and been wanting to have a conversation about what his thoughts were if she stopped taking it, if they had started trying.

but they both had been so busy lately getting everything together that it had been a while since the two of them had time to be intimate, Had time to talk about the future that she wanted to have with him. Would they be able to have a baby? She knew getting pregnant as a fae could be difficult, but she was willing to try. She just needed a moment with him where they both weren’t exhausted.

Amren smirked seeming to catch how deep Nesta’s thoughts ran.

“I guess we’ll see when the time is right.“ She simply said leaning into Varian. Her wedding ring flashing in the light.

Before Cassian could say more, the door opened Azriel stepping through it as Nyx hugged him. Azriel placing Nyx on his back and carrying him into the dining room.

“Be careful there, Uncle Az, you may throw your back out.“ Cassian teased earning him an eye roll from Azriel.

“I’m in better shape than you.“ Azriel retorted. “I bet you couldn’t even lift him to your shoulders.”

“Is that so?” Cassian challeneed as Nesta heard a far off voice say.

“I hate to break up your bet with my son, but it’s time for presents.“ Rhys told them taking Nyx for Azriel’s shoulder. A wide grin on the boys face.

“Presents!” Nyx shouted happily running towards them as the other children followed. Feyre smiled rubbing at her abdomen absentmindedly.

“Do you think he’ll have any trouble not being an only child when his sister arrives?” Feyre asked as Rhys beamed.

“Not at all. though there definitely will be an adjustment period.“ Rhys assured her as Nesta looked back to Cassian. His gaze on Rhys and Feyre as Rhysand pressed a kiss to her sister’s cheek.

Nesta had always knew that Cassian had longed for a family of his own. It wasn’t that his close circle of friends wasn’t enough for him or even her, but she knew Cassian had always wanted children. She had been hesitant afraid if she would be a good mother or not.

He had assured her there was no rush for children. That he would wait hundreds of years if he had to so she could be ready for them. Nesta just had to make sure she was doing this as much for herself as she was for Cassian. She would not bring a child into this world unless both her and Cassisn were ready for one.

Nesta joined the others sitting down next to Feyre as Cassian joined Rhys and Azriel having a conversation that Nesta had no clue what it was about.

Elain was beside Mor and Amren, her laughter flooding over to them as she sent both her sisters a slight wave. Nesta waved back before turning back to Feyre, not sure how to start this particular conversation as they watched Nyx open his presents. His eyes growing wide at the mini paint set his mother had gotten him.

“Thanks mom!” Nyx said flinging his arms around Feyre’s neck as she pulled her son closer.

“You’re welcome baby.” Feyre said hugging him as Nesta took in the sight. She knew she wanted that with her own child. But she was still afraid that she would not be any good at motherhood.

Nesta watched as Nyx opened his other gifts, watching as he opened the toy that Nesta and Cassian had gotten for him. Thanking both of them with a hug.

Nesta‘s smile bloomed as she beheld the hug between Nyx and Cassian, Could almost see Cassian with their own son or daughter, How good of a father he would be. She wondered when Cassian saw her with Nyx if he thought the same thing.

“Is something on your mind?” Feyre asked when they both were alone in the kitchen. they were cleaning up while the others were in the living room showing Nyx how to use his toy and helping him set them up. Cassian had always been great at building things. He was putting the others to shame. A smile tugged at Nesta’s lips.

“When did you know?” She asked as Feyre stopped on the dish she was working on.

“Know about what?” She replied scrubbing at a really stubborn stain as Nesta handed her a better sponge.

“Thank you.“ She said as Nesta dried the dishes Feyre handed to her.

”How did you know you were ready to have a baby?” She asked. Feyre stopping mid scrub.

“Are you and Cassian-?” She started but Nesta interrupted her.

“No. At least not yet. I-I haven’t brought up the conversation with him yet.“ Shd told Feyre. Feyre nodded in understanding.

“I can understand that. It’s not a decision to take lightly. There’s a lot of factors to take into account.”

“Like how I feel like I would be a terrible mother?”

Feyre looked at Nesta with the same eyes they both had inherited from their mother.

”What makes you believe you’ll be a terrible mother?” Feyre asked. going back to the dishes.

“Because I couldn’t even take care of us when it mattered most.” She confided to Feyre.

“It wasn’t your job to take care of us. It was our fathers. “

“It wasn’t your job to take care of us either. but you still did it anyway.“

“It still doesnt mean it would have been right no matter which of us took care of the other. perhaps the real mistake was that we didnt take care of each other, but we were young and we’ll learn from those mistakes, God knows I still make them when it comes to my own child.”

“Please. You’re the definition of the perfect mother.” Nesta told her drying the dishes Feyre had worked on.

“I wouldn‘t say that. I still have the deal Rhys and I made which in retrospect wasn’t the brightest idea if you want to have kids.”

“You made a mistake, it happens to all of us.“

“I will admit we didn’t really think it through. the deal I mean. But no one ever said every decision was a rational one, but you’re deflectin. We were talking about you wanting kids.”

“I know it’s been years but I still have those intrusive thoughts that I’ll end up just like our mother.“ Nesta told her.

“We can’t live our life in fear Nesta. and remember you also have a support system in your corner. If you want to have kids than that’s your choice, well yours and Cassian’s. Just make sure that you’re ready to commit to it. To put that child before anything else, because when your baby comes. It’ll be your whole world. only you can determine what mother you’ll be, The past be damned.“

“Thanks Feyre.“

“Don’t mention it.” Feyre smiled as Cassian turned towards them getting up from his spot and heading towards the kitchen until he stopped where they were at.

“I’ve come to relieve you, my high lady.“ Cassian said as Feyre chuckled.

“Thank God you have spared me of the tedious task that is dish washing.” Feyre teased giving him a pat on the shoulder.

“I’ll see you two when you’re finished,“ Feyre told them heading to sit down beside Rhys and Nyx.

“Were you two having fun in here?” Cassian teased grabbing a dish and washing it.

“Aren’t we always?” Nesta smirked grabbing the dish from him and drying it.

“What were you two talking about?” Cassian asked. “It seemed like a pretty intense conversation.“

“It was a sister thing and…there’s something I want to discuss with you when we get home.“ She told him.

“Nothing bad I hope.“

“No. It’s just a conversation that I’ve been wanting to have with you for a while now.“ She confided in him, He nodded, relief filling his features as they worked on the dishes. talking about the party. When things were winding down Feyre pulled Nesta into a hug as Nesta also hugged Nyx,

“Goodbye Aunt Nes.”

“Goodbye buddy, I’ll see you next week when you come spend the night,“

Nyx‘s eyes lit up at the sound of that, the house adored Nyx as it had any other person, Maybe even favored him slightly. Though she didn’t blame the house. it had been a while since a child had been in it.She wondered how the house would feel to have one there permanently.

When Cassian and Nesta went home, She had found her answer in a stack of novels on the house library’s table. Books on motherhood, what to expect when you’re expecting. Nesta felt a warmth in her chest as the house also presented her the herbs for her tea. She hadn’t taken her dosage today.

Footsteps sounded in the door of the library as the books vanished from sight but the tea remained. She had made up her mind. Had known her answer as Cassian approached her.

“What was it you wanted to talk about?” He asked taking a seat beside her noting the tea.

Nesta took a deep breath. “Did you mean it? When you said you wanted kids?”

Casian nodded. “It’s something Ive always wanted. What brought this up?” He asked as Nesta took another breath.

“I was thinking-“ Nesta started. “About the future you’ve talked about for us. How you said you wanted kids?”

“Did you change your mind? Did you not want kids? Is that why you said you wanted to talk?” Cassian asked.

”No, I-I wanted to talk to you because I- I want to try for a baby. I-I want to make a baby with you.”

Cassian eyes snapped to hers, searching her face before he stood up, his calloused and warm hand going to her face.

“You want a baby?” Cassian asked. Nesta nodded. And she did. Gods did she want a baby with her mate. the love of her life.

“Yes.” She whispered to him as he smiled. The smile as bright as the dawn as he lifted trash can up eyes flickering to get tea.

Nesta’s smile curved upwards before she took the tea tossing it in the trash before Cassian‘s lips camd crashing down to hers.

He hoisted her on the desk, her back leaning against it as Cassian pulled away smiling down at her in the most breathtaking gaze she had ever saw and whispered.

“Then by all means mate,let’s get stared.“