#yeah i went off the rails after twilight sorry not really | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

gliphyartfan · 3 years ago

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@yandere-linked-universe @stars-for-thought @linked-heroes @ice-cream-writes-stuff

@imprisioned-in-the-hole I loved your prompt and couldn't resist! Hope I did it justice!

Wind has a strong presence in this one, that wasn't planned by the way.

Enjoy!

'I'll be fiine guys.'

She totally should have saw this coming.

'This is Wars' era, wandering the market won't that bad.'

Yep— these past few days had been too damn calm for the all of them,

'I'll be gone for an hour! Two hours tops! Promise!'

Of course something like this was going to go and happen.

'This. fucking. sucks!' She grunted, slowly slide down the rope she made out of the sheets in the room she was trapped in.

This is what happens when you jinx yourself.

'Everything will be fine!' Oh suuure, the first hour was delightful.

Saw some items,

Chatted with some folks,

Even got to pet a few dogs!

But the second hour-

'His Grace wishes to discuss some things with you.'

'Sorry, you got the wrong person. Plus I don't feel comfortable with-'

'That wasn't a request.'

'...-!!'

She should have know there would have been someone behind her.

It's always when it's out of your mind that it happens.

And now she was trying to escape her own wedding. And the crazy Duke that wanted to marry her.

She wasn't a hero damnit!

'I'm gonna get lectured so badly after this!' She grunted as she reached the end of the rope, her feet dangling in the air for a moment as she tried to figure out what to do next.

'Damn you laws of physics and gravity!' She whispered to herself.

Physics and gravity decided to take her insult personally as the rope loosened its hold on the railing, causing her to fall into the bushes two feet below her.

'Urk-branch! Branch!' She hissed in pain, reaching underneath and removing the branch poking at her back.

As she rubbed the area, brushing the crumpled sheet from her head, she checked her hand to make sure she wasn't bleeding.

Before she could plan her next move, she stilled as she heard the heavy thuds and clanks of armour approach nearby.

The movement came closer, she used her place in the bushes to keep hidden. Slowly parting the leaves next to her with one hand, she used what visibility she had to discover that yes, it was a pair of guards and the conversation that flowed through the air confirmed they weren't Hyrule guards.

Drat.

'Is the Duke really gonna marry that girl?'

'Seems to be the case. He's been very pleased with himself too. Looks like he's trying to get the wedding done by tonight.'

Double drat.

'I don't blame him, you've seen that girl? Bet he's eager for the wedding night.'

Okay. NO.

'Haha! A beauty like that for a wife would be quite the status boost.'

The guards walked past the bush and it's hidden occupant.

Had they looked back, they would have seen a displeased glare directed their way.

(y/n) huffed and looked around, trying to remember where the exit was.

With another glance around, she picked up her dress and slowly made her way out of the bushes, pausing momentarily before taking off the heels she was forced to wear

'I can't run and climb in this dress.' Trying to think about what to do next, she looked down at her clothes.

'Hmm...'

'WHERE IS SHE.'

'Link please-'

'Don't tell me to calm down Zelda!'

Wind bit his lip as Warriors marched up to the princess' face and growled.

'Impa is having her men search the castle and surrounding areas, we will find her.' Zelda tried to reassure him, taking a step back when he glared.

'It's been a WEEK and you have nothing to show for it!' He ran a head through his hair, taking a deep breath to calm down.

'You know I've been busy with-'

'With the Grand Duke of the farther kingdom who is here as a token of peace and unity between kingdoms.' Warriors recited irritably. 'Yes, very understandably important when someone went missing under the watch of YOUR men.'

'She was last seen in the market, we have blocked the gates and are inspecting every individual leaving the city.' Zelda gave Warriors a look.

'And might I remind you that they are also your men?'

'Apparently not anymore with how you let them slacked off!'

'Excuse me-'

Wind sighed as they started arguing again.

They were getting nowhere.

'This is going nowhere.' Wind turned and saw Hyrule coming up next to him, watching the arguing duo.

'Any luck with the others?' He asked quietly, not surprised when Hyrule shook his head.

'Twilight is using Wolfie to catch any scents but the storm has made that difficult. Time is with Legend and Wild speaking to the merchants and Four is with Sky speaking with the guards.' Hyrule replied, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Wind felt the same way.

None of them were able to sleep well since she went missing. The only reason they slept at all was because they needed to be rested enough in the event a fight comes their way.

But the lack of her presence was deeply felt.

'Any luck here?' Hyrule asked hollowly, already knowing the answer but still asking.

Wind simply gestured to the still arguing duo.

'Is she even still in town?' He couldn't help but ask, not wanting to think of the possibility that she was far away, but it was necessary.

'She has to be,' Hyrule reassured,smiling weakly. 'The town went on lockdown almost immediately.'

Wind returned Hyrule's smile with a weak one of his own.

They turned back to the duo, feeling more tired as they listened to the princess justify her duties.

'I am already dealing with the Grand Duke and I can't give anymore of my attention to this than I already have.' Warriors just gave her a look.

'I wouldn't be bothering so much if you allowed me access to his guest quarters.' It was Zelda's turn to glare at him.

'You know I cannot do that, he is a guest and has nothing to do with her disappearance.' Only Wind and Hyrule noticed the way Warriors hand twitched, as if desiring to reach for his sword.

Not that they could blame him.

'I am not accusing him Princess,' he said through gritted teeth. 'I am merely requesting-'

'That I allow you access to his quarters.' The displeased expression on the princess' face only matched the captain's.

'Annnd they're arguing again.' Wind muttered, watching them fall back into another verbal brawl.

'The only place we haven't looked is the guest wing.' Hyrule whispered, wringing his hands.

'You think we should sneak in?' Hyrule looked at the arguing pair and nodded.

'Yeah...it's better than assuming nothing is there.'

'Alright...Wars!' The angered captain looked at them, a scowl on his face.

'Rulie thinks he has a lead at the market so I'm heading out with him.' Wind kept a casual look on his face, staring Warriors in the eyes.

Warriors was quiet for a brief moment before he grunted and turned back to arguing his case with the princess.

But he was less tense than he was a moment before.

He understood what they were going to do.

'He'll keep her distracted.' Wind murmured, tugging Hyrule out of the room.

'And Impa?' Wind sighed and rubbed his shoulder.

'Still searching the market place I bet, we gotta be quick.'

And with that, they both headed to the guest wing of the castle.

---

The guest wing wasn't too far away, probably for the convenience of whatever foreign guests came to visit.

But it was walled off and the Grand Duke's personal guard was patrolling the area, forcing the duo to sneak their way in.

'I really hope we find something.' Hyrule whispers, the two stilling as a guard passed by their hiding place.

'Best place to look is the most obvious place.' Wind reassured. 'And the most obvious place is a area that's being guarded by enemy guards.'

Hyrule didn't correct him about the guards.

If she was here, they were enemies.

'Let's look through the rooms! Top or bottom floor?' Hyrule hummed.

'We're good at escaping from higher levels, and there's only two floors, let's start low and move up.'

They worked together, both alerting the other when a guard was close.

Soon they snuck passed the majority and reached the first set of rooms.

Then the second set.

Then the third.

They moved up to the second floor and quietly searched through each room.

It was in the Grand Duke's room that they found incriminating evidence on his desk.

'I can't read this language,' Wind whispered harshly as he glared at the papers in front of him. ' but I know (y/n)'s name anywhere!'

'Take it, we can sure it to the princess.' Hyrule whispered back, keeping watch at the door. He tensed when he saw a couple of guards round the corner. 'We need to go!'

'This is the last room and we haven't found her!'

'We found evidence and that's a better than what we had before, now move!'

It took some time to shuffle out the window and climb down, but they were successfully able to make their escape from the guest wing without notice.

'A lead, that's good.' Wind gasped, hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

'But still no (y/n)' Hyrule bite his thumb nervously. 'I hope she's okay...'

'We can't lose hope!' Wind grunted, stretching his back and sighing.

'Let's go, we need to show these papers to the others before we give it to the princess-'

The sailor went rigid, eyes snapping forward, widening.

'What's wrong Wind?' Hyrule asked worriedly, hand on the younger teen's shoulder.

The teen bit his lip to keep his expression from crumbling and his breath was shaky,

'(y/n)...?' Hyrule's own eyes widened and his head snapped to look when Wind was staring.

There, in a torn dirty white dress, no shoes, and messy hair, was their beloved goddess looking around, visibly distressed.

'(y/n)..?' Wind raised his voice, hope as visible in his tone as it was in his eyes.

Hyrule's heart felt such relief as their beautiful goddess' head snapped in their direction.

The smile she gave them was simply magnificent as she immediately ran toward them.

The moment she was close, she wrapped her arms around the both of them and began to cry, relief filling her.

'You have no idea how happy I am to see you two!' She hugged them closer.

'WE'RE happy to see you!' Wind sighed happily, resting his head in her shoulder, both him and Hyrule hugging her as tightly as she was hugging them.

Just having her in their arms was a blessing they treasured so much.

'Where have you been? How did you escape?' She sighed and shook her head.

'I'd rather tell it one time.' She looked around.

'Please tell me the others are near by?' She whispered, absolutely exhausted and didn't want to deal with any more drama.

'Well...no. They are looking for you in town. We snuck into the guest wing to look for you.' Hyrule answered apologetically, heart clenching when she sniffled.

Wind frowned for a moment before he gasped in excitement.

'I'll rally them up!' Hyrule and (y/n) looked at him in confusion as he reached into his pouch.

'Wild has the slate! And if he has the slate-' he pulls out what he was searching for.

'Then we can reach him with this!' (y/n) tilted her head.

'A...stone?' Wind grinned at them, the pirate's charm dangling from his fingers.

'A COMMUNICATION stone!' (y/n) gasped in delight and gave Wind another hug.

'Call him! Call him!' Wind laughed and activated the stone.

'Um, I've been meaning to ask...' Hyrule quietly said to (y/n) who looked at him innocently. '...About your..outfit...'

Wind ignored them for a brief moment as Wild's tired voice came from the pirate's charm.

'What is it sailor?'

'Guess who me and Hyrule found!' Wind grinned as he heard gasps.

'You found her?! Is she safe?!'

'They found her?!'

'She's okay! We're by the-'

'HE WANTS TO MARRY YOU?!'

Wind turned his head so fast, he winced at the pop he felt, the loud yells coming from his charm filling the air.

'WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS?!!' (y/n) winced as she realized the panic she just caused

'Uh-'

He couldn't help it, Wind laughed, soft and just a little hysterical.

Of course an insect had to pop up when they let their guard down.

---

'Where is she.'

'Sir, we have our men searching for her this very moment.'

'I want her found by TONIGHT, the wedding will go as planned.'

'Of course sir!' The Grand Duke scowled as his guard walked off.

He is so close to raising his status.just another day and he would have been on top of the social world. He sneered, like a child, storming down the halls of the guest wing.

'Should have simply left with her when I had the chance.' He ran a gloved hand down his face.

To think he had one of the heroes of legend in his grasp only for her to have slipped through his fingers.

He'll have to make sure to teach her a lesson.

'Sir!' He sighed irritably, turning to see another one of his guard approaching him.

'What is it? Did you find her?' The guard looked nervous.

'Sir, Princess Zelda is requesting your presence in the throne room at once.' The Grand Duke tensed and stared at the guard.

'Are you sure?' The guardsman nodded, stepping back when the Duke growled.

'Of all the times...' He looked back at the guardsman. 'Continue looking for the girl.'

After the guardsman nodded, he decided to get it over with and headed to the throne rooms.

'Grand Duke, thank you for coming at such a short notice.'

'Your Highness.' The Grand Duke bowed to her, as he rose he noticed the nine gentlemen standing to either side of her.

The heroes of legend.

The Grand Dukes greed brought to mind the rise in his status at what might be a possible meeting with the legendary nine.

He was to arrogant to realize the cold looks he was receiving from them.

She smiled, nodding in greeting. 'I apologize for disturbing your day Grand Duke, I understand how frustrating it can be, but I heard of a strange rumor recently and I had hoped you would clarify it for me?'

'Please rest assured Princess, I will do all that I can to assist you.' He said, smiling openly, the perfect gentleman.

'Splendid. Now,' She dropped the smile. 'Did you conspire to abduct the heroes' companion and force her to wed you?'

The Grand Duke froze, paling as the question registered in his head.

'Wha-'

'Ah. Before I continue, allow me to properly introduce the gentleman before me-'

'There is no need your Highness,' calmly interrupted Time, coldly gazing down at the nervous Nobleman. 'He is as aware of our identities as we are aware of his.'

'I-'

'And you seem to be very aware of the identity of our most dearest companion.' Legend hissed from his place next to Time, glaring daggers at the unsettled man.

The Grand Duke's expression twisted into fear, anger, and panic.

His hands clenched into fists at his sides as he cleared his throat. 'I'm sure I don't know what you're speaking of.' He calmly answered.

'Perhaps a misunde-'

' A misunderstanding? I'm sure.' Warriors scoffed, looking at Zelda with a raised eyebrow.

She sighed "Lets not fool ourselves here, we all know what this is about.' She stared sternly at him. 'You abducted the young woman known as (y/n) and were conspiring to wed her for...status?'

'She isn't very happy about being kidnapped.' Wild said casually, as if he was not wishing he could jam a bomb down the Grand Duke's throat and detonate it.

It seemed the arrogant man could barely handle being talked down in such a way. His clenched fists trembled in anger.

'I will not allow such accusations to be made against my person!' He looked at Zelda, face flushed in anger.

'If you believe that our kingdoms will be allied after this, I assure you that-'

'If your kingdom is full of noblemen like you, than Hyrule would benefit by NOT allying with you.' Warriors interjected, ignoring Zelda's stern look towards him, looking down his nose at him.

'You have no proof!' Warriors sighed and nodded.

'I suppose I don't.' He was silent until the Duke looked smug before he matched his expression with one of his own, pointing behind the Duke.

'But she's proof enough.'

'Oh, so I'm demoted to proof now, am I?'

The Duke went rigid, his mouth snapping shut on the words just spoken as he slowly turned his head-.

An dispassionate look directed right at him.

'Apologies my Angel.' Warriors smiled softly at her. 'No insult meant.'

'Hmm.' She raised an eyebrow, a brief glance at Warriors before looking at the Grand Duke.

'(y/n) I ask for complete honesty.' Zelda commands. 'Was the Grand Duke the man behind your abduction with intention to force you to wed him?' (y/n) nodded.

'Yes your Highness.' Zelda closed her eyes and sighed.

'Very well, I will arrange for his departure tonight.' The Grand Duke's face a unique combination of red and enraged yet also paling.

'T-This will not stand! When my king hears of this-.'

'We have already sent your king the information of your crimes.' The princess proclaimed to the unsteady nobleman.

'Y-you-'

'You are no longer welcomed within the borders of Hyrule Kingdom and are henceforth outlawed from ever returning. Impa shall escort you to the guest wing to retrieve your belongings.'

Zelda then turned and strode away, but not before sending an apologetic glance at Warriors.

He simply returned her look with a blank one.

(y/n) walked passed the royal knights that now surrounded Grand Duke and made her way to the group.

'I'm so glad you guys found me.' She said with relief in her voice.

'You ended up saving yourself dear.' Time chuckled, reaching up and cupping her cheek. 'And we were panicking like we lost our minds.'

'I was panicking when Wind and Hyrule popped up.' She admitted. 'Trust me, I was so happy and relieved to be found by you guys.'

'We'll always find you (y/n)!' Wind chirped, wrapping his arms around her waist, causing her to giggle.

'Well I guess it has it's uses.' She clapped her hands.

'I'm hungry and demand all the cuddles! I hated this week!' Wild was already pulling out his slate and looking through his inventory.

'I'll make a meal that'll taste so good, you'll forget this week ever happened!' (y/n) grinned in delight.

'That's what I want to hear!'

The Chain surround her as they guided her out of the throne room, the angry cries of the Grand Duke not worth notice.

Yet two members of the group lingered behind.

And they were eyeing the fuming nobleman with calculating eyes.

'We could have been a bit more...hands on with his punishment... ya know that don't you old man...?' Wind commented, his treasured wind waker in one hand.

'As enjoyable as it would be, I don't want to spend a moment longer away from Her.' Wind sighed but nodded in agreement , crossing his arms, tapping his wind waker against his chin.

'So the storm will kill him?' Time nodded, inspecting his Ocarina casually.

'I have more than enough magic to conjure one strong enough.'

'You've already had Wild damage parts of the ship correct?' Wind nodded. 'Than once I summon the storm, make sure the winds finish the job.'

Wind hummed. 'Kay.'

They both looked at the shrinking form of the dead man walking.

'Ugh, I hate bugs.' Wind huffed, a disgusted look on his face.

Time stared at the Duke until he could not see him no more.

'Hm..So do I...'

That night, the group of nine celebrated the return of their most beloved member, lavishing her with their affection and as she requested, all the cuddles she asked for.

(That night, reports were received by two kingdoms that notes a vicious storm appeared as the Grand Duke's ship sailed beyond the Hyrulian sea borders. Destroying the ship beyond recognition. There were no survivors.)

#timeline two au #linked universe #linkeduniverse #yandere linked universe #lu #lu hyrule #lu time #lu wild #lu legend #lu artemis #lu wind #lu warriors #y/n

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spiltscribbles · 4 years ago

Note

Prompt: Pro Athlete Sirius because that my and Remus' kink

~Notes: OMFG VICTOrIA!!!! I FUCKING SCREECHED!!!! lkadfjlaksdgjoiaejfalskdgjioeugisfkldshg Yes tis my kink as well!!! And then I saw this from Nonny and worlds collided and BOOM! I hope you like this my love<3<3 You incredibly talented sugarplum!!! TBH I want to write a thousand more things in this AU XD

FROM THIS LIST | Send Me A Prompt!💜 | A REBLOG MEANS THE GALAXY!!💜

When Remus was young— surrounded by the light breeze of the Welsh coast and the harmony of birds chirping in the distance— he would follow his mother to their small garden behind their cottage at the cusp of twilight as his father cooked their supper, and he’d watch as she laid flat all sorts of newspapers written in French and Arabic and English, watch as she brought her red pen against the ink and marked the articles with underlines and shorthand he wouldn’t understand for years still.

He asked her once, when he was barely eight years old, why she bothered to keep up with so many different publications, why she read the same story penned by countless perspectives when all the facts stayed the same at the end of the day. And he remembers how she had let out a quick, shrill of a laugh, tossing back her golden head while sucking in a puff from the bubbling hookah she had set up besides her— a habit she acquired from her Algerian, refugee parents, and one that became synonymous to those late nights in Remus’s eyes.

“Facts can be wielded to someone’s personal vendettas, Remus John,” she had crooned in that adoring way of hers whenever she spoke to him— honey eyes that were the same color and shape to Remus’s own flashing alight and their matching smiles going crooked in her stunningly beautiful face.

“Oh.” Remus had replied, still confused as all get out but was perfectly fine with just holding his small vigil, watching her beneath moonlight and the soft glow of their outdoors lamps, as he listened to the shuffling of papers while she commenced this odd quirk.

It’s a decade and a half later— as his editor for the Phoenix, a small, but bustling online editorial that plans on dethroning the likes of Politico and Vox in only a matter of years, scans his latest findings on the corrupt boosters linked to MP Avery from Leeds— when Remus thinks he suddenly understands what his mother, with her keen eyes and pixelated air, had meant by facts in how they can be colored differently simply by the words surrounding them. And he wonders if one day soon, one of his bylines will join her little stack of stories, if she’ll be proud of him even if she says as much even now, when he’s a lost twenty-something stumbling through life in the capitol and barely making it as is, between his actual job and the gig he has at the coffee shop nearest his dingy flat he shares with three other blokes.

“Mmm, this is good, Lupin,” Dorcas declares after what feels like an eon, dropping her long, dark legs from where they were lounging leisurely on her desk and scuffs out her cigarette in a pretty, glass ashtray. “Send it over to Flores to look into deeper, maybe it’ll corroborate the info she’s already gotten from her sources.”

Remus feels himself bristle, hopes that it doesn’t show, that his face stays passive as he contends, “I think I should at least help her write the expose, I’m the one who got this bombshell.”

“That’s not how it works, sweets,” Dorcas toots, tossing back her dark head of curls as she rises, perching on the corner of her desk delicately and looking down, straight into his gaze. “I know it’s frustrating, but you’re fresh blood. barely six months here, but Alice has been with us for years. This is her baby, and we’re just here to nurture it.”

“So I’ll have to wait another ten months, at least, to get the same treatment?” He argues in an admittedly petulant way, making Dorcas laugh endearingly, and Remus is suddenly, searingly reminded of his age, and how he’s the youngest staffer that this London based news outlet has on hand.

“C’mon, love, it won’t be that long for someone as sharp as you, just be patient, and don’t try to pull a Zoe Barnes on us, yeah? You’re far too pretty to clean up on the rails of the tube.” Dorcas tousles a hand into his dark tawny curls, and Remus holds back the roll to his eyes that he feels willing up inside of him as he stands fully.

“Thanks Cas.”

She smiles beatifically, and throws him a wink. “You’re joining Emmy for the report tomorrow on those United footballers and their fundraiser for the hospital, yeah?”

“Bright and early,” Remus replies, still feels a bit miffed that he was chosen to write up the charity function, considering he doesn’t know a lick about football and doesn’t really get on with anyone who does. But Caradoc— their typical sports reporter— is out sick with the flew, so it’s on him. “I’ll have it on your desk early enough so it’ll be published by tea time.”

“Good man,” Dorcas says in thanks, picking up her crowing cellphone before waving him off.

Remus isn’t all that surprised when he strides out of the office only to find Benjy Fenwick sitting against the opposite wall, knees pressed to his chest and quickly scrambling up when he catches sight of Remus. Sometimes it’s impossible to believe that the bespectacled man in front of him is one of the top editors for the Phoenix, that he’s a regular corespondent for places like the BBC or CNN— that his rebukes against the piss poor inquiries waged during PMQs have become more anticipated than the sessions themselves. Remus tends to forget all of that when he sees him like this, messy haired and wearing a graphic T-shirt with some marvel superhero embossed on the front. “Wotcher Remus.”

“Hiya Remus says, smiling softly and rocking back on his heels. “You wanted to talk to the sergeant then?”

“Huh? Oh, no, no. I didn’t want to talk to Dorcas, I just— Erm, I know you were showing her that stuff you got from that intern, Pettigrew, and i know you were chafed about not getting any opportunity here so—“ He trails off, scratching the back of his head and studying a point over Remus’s shoulder, and it’s all too endearing, and Remus is so beyond thankful he’s made such a good friend here.

“No cigar,” he says in answer to the unspoken question, shrugging noncommittally even if he feels like shit over it.

Benjy nods, face contrite in a way that tells Remus he never thought it would’ve went otherwise. “I’m sorry, that’s bollocks.”

“’S whatever,” Remus shrugs off the apology, begins walking down the hall and straightening his report to hand over to Alice.

“Ah,, erm. We can get a drink, yeah? In commiseration,” Benjy offers, and Remus stilts only for a beat before continuing the twisting trail to where Alice is set up with the more senior members on staff. And he feels only sorta bad about wanting to refuse. He knows that if he says yes, it’ll mean something different to Benjy than it does him, that he’ll probably take it as Remus finally giving into his pestering and deciding to actually go out with him, even if he’s refuted the other four times he’s asked as much. Remus’s simply just too busy trying to get a footing in this city, and trying to figure out where he’s suppose to go from here, and what he’s suppose to do. And yes, Benjy is cute— a complete Seth Cohen archetype. And he’s sweet and smart and funny enough. But Remus is really not in the mood for doing the whole flowers and wine and candle lit dinners shtick, had gotten enough of that while still with his university boyfriend. And yeah, he’s only just turned 24, but he already feels too old and too jaded for that sort of puppy love— even if Benjy’s got a good decade and some change on him.

Probably sensing his hesitation, Benjy is quick to rectify the offer. “I’ll ask Mary, and Fabian too, and a few others. We can make a night of it, just some drinks on a Friday after work.”

Stalling by the last turn to Alice’s desk, Remus looks at him from over his shoulder, and sort of hates himself for being such a soft hearted fuck sometimes. “Yeah Benj, sounds nice. Just let me know on the group chat, yeah?”

Benjy grins, much more genuine than his awkward quirk of the lips from earlier. “Yeah, good call, I’ll let the others know pronto.”

“Aces,” Remus says, tosses him a obligatory thumbs-up before finding an expectant looking Alice who’s tapping her foot impatiently.

Yeah, today is so bloody shit.

Surprisingly, the round of drinks turns to another and then a third and fourth and Remus is currently nursing his fifth mango margarita on Benjy’s tab, and he actually feels lighter than he has since taking the job at Phoenix, feels bright and bubbling and like absolutely nothing could be wrong as long as he’s got this drink in his grasp and he’s sitting with the handful of reporters and photographers from the office that don’t all have sticks up their asses. It’s fun, it’s good. So obviously it couldn’t have lasted.

Mary is currently cackling about her Uber driver from last night who asked her all sorts of well meaning, but incredibly dense questions about her hijab— a freshly poured glass of coke in one hand, while the other is tangled into her girlfriend Emmy’s. And From his left Remus can hear Fabian ribbing Frank on his crush on Alice, while Benjy scoots intermittently closer as they watch Kingsley and Marlene sparring over something to do with a Kardashian or TikTok trend or whatever the fuck else— The guy has resilience, Remus has to give Benjy that.

“Right, who’s buying next?” Marlene asks, abrasive as ever while scrolling through her phone, ostensively finding something to prove her point against the managing editor.

“Reckon it’s my turn,” Benjy crows, standing up smoothly and glancing down at Remus with a nervous sort of half grin.

“Just a water for me, ta. I need to sober up,” Remus tells him, feels proud that he didn’t even slur slightly. Benjy bobs his head understandingly, and Remus turns to ask Marlene about her latest tinder hookup which always is a good laugh, but then he catches on it. On the sound of the pub’s doors flinging open, followed by a raucous crowd of athletic looking guys probably only a bit older than he is, clambering indoors.

They’re all so very sixth-form, broad grins and slapping each other’s shoulders with jeers, topped off with loud, bark like laughter that makes it obvious to Remus that these wankers think that they’re some sort of group of gods amongst men, roaming around like everyone should fall to their feet and offer everything they have. It makes Remus roll his eyes so far back that it feels like he might’ve sprained them. They just give off this exhausting aura that reminds him of a past boyfriend in tenth year who was on the footie team and who’s favorite activity was either making Remus feel lucky enough to go out with someone so popular, or dragging him around like some sort of bloody trophy.

To put it nicely, Remus sorta hates them on sight. So when he sees one of the tossers— regrettably the brightest of the lot who’s all pearly teeth, and glittering eyes and incredibly impressive shoulders that tape off to a narrow waste in an objectively infuriating matter— swivels up to the barkeep and jostles Benjy on his way, well Remus doesn’t hesitate to dart forwards to tell him off.

“Oi, watch where you’re going, yeah?”

Benjy and the bloke who looks like he might moonlight as a model for Calvin briefs for when he’s not lounging in a yacht off the Tuscany coast, both turn to him at the same time. Benjy looking abashed, and the aforementioned tosser preening like the cat who’s just caught a canary.

“Sorry, love. Didn’t see you there,” he says in a delightfully deep tenner, giving Remus an appreciative once over, and Remus absolutely despises how the action makes him feel both thrilled and irritated. “Trust and believe, I wouldn’t have looked away if I saw you.”

“Not me, arse.” Remus spits back, refuses to pay any credence to how his cheeks have begun to flush. “You bumped into my mate right there, the one with the tray of loggers.”

The tosser darts his almost molten gray eyes over to Benjy for a sparing second before he laser focusses back onto Remus, the most phony expression of contrition all over his face. “Sorry to your friend,” he says the descriptor like a joke that no one else is in on. “Let me buy you a drink in sorry for the one I made slim here spill.”

Remus is officially unimpressed, hopes that his flat tone gets it across. “You’re an arse.”

“You’re mouthy,” he retorts, looks like it’s something he greatly appreciates— delights over even.

“Ah, ’s fine Remus, really. I’ll just bring these back and get us a new glass.”

“Listen to slim, Remus, he’s got the right idea.” The tosser hurriedly interjects, strutting close enough to him that he makes it so Remus has to tip his head back just slightly so not to drop his gaze. “I’m Black, Sirius Black, just to get the pleasantries out of the way.” His leer tells Remus that the name should probably evoke some response of aw into Remus, but all it does is make him sound so egregiously pretentious that Remus wants to smack his own bloody head against a dry wall and stay in the hole until this ruddy Sirius bloke leaves him the hell alone.

“Good for you,” he says instead of all of that, and spots Sirius’s friends from behind Sirius chuckling and elbowing one another. Evidently this is a line the tosser uses frequently, and Remus is pleased that he might be one of the first who aren’t at all impressed by the grandiose way he introduced himself.

“Hah, you know I’m use to the pretty ones playing hard to get, but I’m really feeling here that you’re not exactly liking my company, love.”

Remus sucks in a frustrated breath through his nose, shouldering past Sirius and taking the tray of drinks from Benjy before storming back to their table where the others have begun openly gawping at the scene— Marlene outright squawking with Fabian just as Remus takes his seat.

“Don’t,” Remus warns them all as he silently says fuck off to the water and instead gargles down one of the loggers. And if he has to steadfastly not turn around for the rest of the night towards where he can feel Sirius’s gaze burning into his back— well then so be it.

The next morning, Remus has to puke twice into the toilet, and gulps down three aspirins just to stave off his bloody hangover from the night before where he decided that getting properly sloshed would prove as a good technique to not end up making out with Sirius in some dark corner— or regrettably the backseat of his car. And if he does still remember flashes of ranting to him about how insufferable preppy, rich boys actually are while Sirius gazed at him endeared— well Remus just decides to purge it out along with the stomach acid. It’s not like he’ll ever see the douche again.

He meets Arthur— one of the accountants who also helps out by taking photos for more low key news stories— outside the hospital where the conference will be taking place with the Manchester United team. There was a scrimmage that they all played with some of the kids in the cancer ward that occurred at around eight in the ruddy morning, but thankfully Remus didn’t have to show up until an hour later when the team presented their big shiny check, to the big, shiny hospital.

However, Arthur has been here for hours, so he’s beyond chirpy and looks like he’s downed three cups of espresso as he chatters on about his son Percy starting secondary school, and his eldest, Bill, getting an award for his reading prowess, and all the strange craving his wife has been having throughout her pregnancy with the twins they’re expecting any week now. And Remus loves Arthur, he does— one of the sweetest folks he’s ever met— but God, his head is still thrumming from those misguided tequila shots and he really just wants to get his three quotes, and write up the story so he can find refuge back in his sheets.

While Arthur has moved to talking about his wife, Molly’s, plans to open up a daycare in their refurnished garage, Remus scans his eyes over the familiar face of reporters from other outlets who look just as bored as him, and then to the stage where a woman in a sharply pressed suit is ushering for the group of football stars to join her, so that the conference can finally fucking begin.

And Remus thinks that their faces are sorta familiar, probably from all the publicity they get on the telly— but then he freezes as he stops at one of them with dark brown skin, and thick rimmed spectacles— and he suddenly can hear him chatting about his redheaded girlfriend and drunkenly declaring that she’ll be the mother of his children some day soon. So he completely expects it when his stomach drops as he moves his glance just a bit to the right, being struck by pearly teeth, and glittering eyes and incredibly impressive shoulders that tape off to a narrow waste, made all the more infuriating by the tight kit he’s got on and the blazing number twelve splayed against his chest.

And fuck.

Remus runs through about a dozen scenarios in which he can make a discrete, or not so discrete exit before he notices him, but in tandem to his spiraling thoughts, the wanker actually looks forwards, and like a creepy metal detector, his quick silver gaze pinpoints onto Remus.

They stare at one another for a beat before his smirk goes wolfish, and he runs a hand through his artfully tousled hair in a way that practically screams, fancy meeting you here. And holy fuck he looks so mouth watteringly attractive with that faint film of sweat running down his neck, and how his smile pulls slightly more to the left, and how he’s looking at Remus like he’s his birthday and Christmas presents all rolled into one.

Remus suddenly hates everything— but most of all hates Sirius, and how bloody fit he is.

“Oh, you’re a fan then?”

Starting, Remus shifts around slightly so that he’s facing Arthur completely. “Pardon?”

“Sirius Black I mean, you’re a fan?” Arthur asks in that abrasively congenial and intensely scrutinizing way that he treats everything. “I mean he’s a great player, but I know you don’t really watch. So I bet it’s all that charity work he does, yeah?”

“Charity work?” Remus echos, feeling like a floundering fish.

“Truly some amazing stuff.” Arthur pontificates, rubbing a hand against his jaw as he tips his head back. “I mean obviously I’m partial to the fundraising for Reporters Without Borders, but of course the things he does with the more impoverished kids is great. And I know Molly likes his very outspoken posts about being anti war and his annual live streams to earn money for refugees in those war torn nations, like the last one he did for Syria?”

“Oh—“ Remus says, feeling like his head is being overrun by a fountain of new information.

“Yes well, you don’t usually see athletes get into the thick of it with political issues, but I reckon he never really minded. I mean the fact he’s the first football star from United to have come out without any fanfare really proved that. Oh, I think they’re starting, I should probably get some photos before Dorcas gives me a tongue lashing.”

And as quick as the flash of his camera’s lends, Arthur is using his considerable height to get to a more advantageous spot towards the front, and leaves Remus in the dust, as if he hasn’t just obliterated his every assumption of Sirius from after that initial meeting.

And unbidden, the words his mother had told him so many years ago, about facts and how they can color a situation just simply based off the person who’s speaking them— flood to the forefront of his mind.

“Fucking hell,” Remus mutters lowly, gets jostled by Greengrass, a hawkish reporter from a rivaling publication who always has on the most wickedly sharp acrylic nails, and perfectly quaffed curls— as she waves around her certification to speak her inquiry.

“My question is for Potter,” she announces when the woman leading the event, McGonagall, points her way. “And I was wondering how early you boys have to rise for training during the season? And how intense the sessions are that Coach Hooch puts you guys through?”

Potter, the one with the redheaded girlfriend that Remus heard so much about last night between his ranting at Sirius, parts his lips, but it’s not his voice that ends up reverberating through the outdoors space. Instead, it’s Sirius, who’s shouldering him with a goading air, obviously expecting his comment to have only ended up in Potter’s ear and not caught by the mike.

“I wonder if Lupin will let me wake up with’m so he can let me get some real training done before practices, eh?”

And just as soon as his words pitter off, the entire crowd drops to a hush— quiet enough so that they could probably hear it if a pen dropped.

Sirius’s handsome face— strong jawline, and broad but sharp cheekbones, and a long, narrow nose— goes suddenly ashen, and he flashes over to Remus as if he’s terrified that he’ll bite his face off.

God, what an idiot.

With a long suffering sigh, Remus plucks out the microphone from a slack faced Greengrass’s hand. “We can discuss the regimen afterwards, Black. Just meet me by the front doors and let your mate answer the bloody question.”

Everyone around them falls into laughter that’s caught between uncomfortable chuckles and amazingly amused cackling, but the only person Remus is paying any mind is Sirius, and how he seems to have gone absolutely incandescent, nodding electrically before miming the zip of his lips and gesturing for Potter to carry on.

Jesus help him, Remus has no idea what he’s gotten himself into.

~My Wolfstar FIC Masterlist

~Buy Me A Coffee

#WOLFSTAR #REMUS LUPIN #SIRIUS BLACK #SIRIUSXREMUS #REMUSXSIRIUS #WOLFSTAR FLUFF #THE HARRY POTTER SERIES #MARAUDERS #HARRY POTTER SERIES #ILU Victoria!!!#also to anyone side eyeing the buy me a coffee plz do not judge me #i am so searing embarrassed about it #rip #just it's there i guess #calls;jalksdgjaeowifjsadlkgh #look away from me #!!!#lmfao #spilt ink

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into-the-linkverse · 3 years ago

Text

Of rupees and Koroks

my first LU fanfiction! I am horrible at endings so...yeah. i definitely went off the rails from my original plan (ADHD my beloved) and I am SO SORRY in advance if any of the characters are OOC.

“Okay, and that would come to…200 rupees, Mr. Captain Hero Sir!” Ravio cheerfully stated, holding up the bottle of shimmering red potion for War to admire. The warrior actually scoffed upon hearing the intended price.

“Something wrong, War?” Legend asked, his back leaning against a rather large crate.

“No, no, it’s just…really cheap.” War pointed towards the potion. Both Legend and Ravio blinked blankly. Legend’s face soon turned into one of severe confusion, whereas Ravio’s eyes lit up with excitement.

“200 rupees? Cheap? Were you hit in the back of the head by a bulbin?!” Twilight almost shrieked from his side of the Barnhouse He stopped playing with the cows and quickly jogged over to Ravio’s makeshift shop.

“Back home, a red potion would cost around 10,000 rupees. Isn’t that the case here?” War stated eyebrow raised as Twilight began twitching at the mention of the rupee count. Ravio’s jaw practically dropped.

“My wallet can’t even hold that!”

“Hey, I heard screaming. Who’s dead?” The barn’s door creaked open to reveal Wind, accompanied by a sweating Sky and an unfazed Four.

“War said a red potion would cost 10,000 rupees in his world!” Legend blurted out, almost barking at the heroes. Four huffed for a second, then walked up to Ravio and snatched the red potion.

“Hey, 200 rupees, y’know!”

“This. Costs 20 rupees.” He pointed at the potion, as War soon broke down in a fit of laughter.

“What’s so funny, pretty boy?” Legend folded his arms.

“You guys must be broke! 20 rupees? That can’t buy you shit!” He managed to get out before banging his fist against the hay covered ground.

“Hey, watch your language!” Sky shouted, moving to cover Wind’s pointy ears. “There are children here.” He lowered his voice as Wind swatted his hands away.

“Okay, okay, I’m trying to run a business here. Let’s go…2,000 rupees, Mr. Captain Hero Sir!” Ravio clasped his hands together, only to realize the item he was selling was nowhere on the table.

“Um…Mr. Smithy? My red potion?”

“Oh, sure.” Four passed the glittering potion back to the purple-haired hero, acting as if he wouldn’t be committing a crime if he didn’t hand it back.

“Here you go, Mr. Captain Hero Sir! Please come again!” Ravio smiled gleefully, having 2,000 rupees handed to him like it was nothing.

“Pfft- I guess War really is a rich snob.” Twilight sniggered, shaking hands with Legend in a mutual agreement.

“Hey, you take that back, farmers!” War shouted, fiddling with his glove as if preparing for a fight.

“War, you realize you’re saying that on a ranch?” A voice called from outside. The door was already opened (Wind forgot to close it) so it was easy to tell that the voice belonged to Time.

“Oh, hey, pops, wanna help us take on pretty boy?” Twilight greeted happily, only making Warriors more enraged.

“No, I’m quite fine. But thank you for the offer anyway. Hyrule asked me to collect you all. He’s having trouble with something. And for Nayru’s sake, behave yourselves.” Time explained to the group, trying not to bring up the fact that he almost locked them in the barn to keep them out of trouble.

“What do you mean “something”? I thought nothing happens on this ranch!” Wind protested, running his hands through his hair, obviously trying to make himself more presentable.

“I have no clue what the deal is myself. Wild and Hyrule are already investigating.”

“Those two? They were better hosts than us?” Warriors looked almost horrified at the idea of being upstaged by Wild of all people.

“Do you want to be cooped up in here all day?” Time asked, almost laughing at War’s sudden reaction.

“Come on, let’s get moving now!” Warriors announced, starting to direct (push) the other heroes out of the barnhouse.

Hyrule was ecstatic. He’d been picking up stray rocks for weeks in hopes to find the small beings called Koroks. Wild had told him all about the strange little creatures that hid under rocks and in trees, and Hyrule soon became intent to find one. At last, at the gates of Lon Lon ranch, Hyrule mindlessly picked up a rock and proceeded to shout in happiness.

“Wild! Wild! I found one!” He cried, perking the ears of the long-haired Hylian. Wild rushed over, practically throwing the Cucco he was holding. He jogged over, only to stop a few feet away from the brown-haired hero.

Hyrule’s eyes were alight with glee, his smile looked like an innocent rabbit’s. He tossed the rock aside, unfortunately landing on Wild’s foot, as he winced. He placed the rock to the side and crouched down to the Korok’s level.

“Yahaha, you’ve found me!” The Korok excitedly squealed, Wild rolling his eyes as he heard the line for the 400thtime. Hyrule nodded in response, too glad to speak and ruin the moment. Before he knew it, Hyrule was handed a small, foul seed. He looked confused for a second and looked up to Wild.

“Yeah…not that impressive, is it?” He sighed, snatching the seed from Hyrule, and adding to his collection. Hyrule blinked as he saw Wild open to pouch to see a mountain of the horrid smelling things. “Gotta get these back to Hestu sometime.” He casually stated, closing his pocket again.

“Buh-bye!” The Korok exclaimed, waving his small, rounded hand towards the two Hylians. Hyrule was not having this. He had spent two weeks searching for the little creatures, and when he does, he’s just supposed to say good-bye after minutes of meeting one? He reached out his arms and took the Korok up to his torso in one swift movement.

“I shall name him Peppers and he shall be mine!” Hyrule proclaimed loudly, much to Wild’s shock. He tried to wrangle the Korok out of Hyrule’s embrace, but the Korok spoke up.

“Actually, I’d love to be Mr. Hero’s friend!” It chirped, sinking into Hyrule’s green tunic. “Aw, see? He likes me!” Hyrule cuddled the Korok, adding a whiny tone to his words. Wild groaned, as he almost felt like Time, having to take care of someone like this.

“You’ll have to ask Time if we can keep it.” He sighed, poking the pointy nose of the leaf faced spirit. As if from nowhere, armored footsteps approached the two Hylians. “Keep what?” The firm voice spoke, making Wild jump for a moment.

“The Korok…?” Hyrule trailed off, still clutching the forest spirit. As the chain came into sight, some stood dumbstruck, whereas Wind’s eyes widened drastically. “Korok!?” The pirate pointed; mouth open wide as he bolted to Hyrule. “What in Din’s name is a Korok?” War groaned; his breath slightly hilted from jogging across the ranch.

“I’m not sure myself…but it definitely looks cute!” Time let slip a small remark of childish nature, a warm smile creeping up on his face. Legend soon ran up to his descendant and grabbed the Korok out of his hands.

“Where’s this little bugger from anyway?” He mumbled, turning the spirit face down to have a proper look at it. He furrowed his brow, then turned to Ravio, gestured to see if the rabbit hero had any clue about the creature. Ravio simply shrugged at him. “Hey! He isn’t some toy to be held like that!” Twilight shouted, scooping up the Korok from Legend’s hands. He held it carefully on his shoulder as one would a cat, as the Korok began playing with Twilight’s hair.

“I’m the best at dealing with animals here. I say we keep it,” Twilight nodded as the Korok’s hands started folding braids into his hair. “Peppers.” Hyrule quickly added, placing a hand on the little Korok’s back. “What’s this about p-peppers?!” Four almost leapt out of his skin after hearing “peppers”. Wild simply laughed and wrapped an arm around him.

“His name is Peppers!” Hyrule said once again, a smile dawning on his face. “Why peppers, though?” Four protested, his disdain for the food clear as day. Wind coughed a bit, trying to hold in a laugh. Sky gave him a light pat on the head and shook his head, mouthing “don’t”.

“Well, I think it’s a great name! Did…Did Wild pick it out?” Sky laughed wistfully, trying to discourage Wind from making fun of Four. “Nope, completely ‘Rule’s idea.” Wild answered, causing Four to instead eye Hyrule suspiciously. Legend folded his arms and let out a huff as Ravio giggled behind him. “Perhaps he’d be interested in renting?” Legend twisted around as Ravio flatly suggested.

“No one in their right mind would be interested in renting, Ravio.” He scoffed, turning back to face the rest of the chain. “I, personally, don’t want it. What if it steals our items and flees in the night?” War accused, pointing a finger towards the creature. A paranoid Warriors, Time couldn’t help but laugh.

“No, the Korok’s come from the Lost Woods. They’re the children of the Great Deku Tree, so I’d doubt they’d do that.” Wild explained, peaking the attention of Time. If the Korok’s were from the Lost Woods, he would have seen some by now, wouldn’t he? Or maybe they only showed up far after his era…

“Wait! You’ve met the Great Deku Tree too?!” Wind’s small figure jumped up, tugging on Wild’s tunic. Twilight eyed the older hero for a moment, he seemed…off. Korok still in arms, he strode up to Time and placed his free hand on his shoulder. “You alright, dad?” Time snapped out of his state of thought and quickly waved it off.

“I’m fine, just…glad that the Deku Tree still exists to them, I guess.” Time replied wistfully, his gaze trailing to the two blue-clad heroes, sharing their experiences with the ancient talking tree. “He was the…closest thing I had to a father.” His next comment caught Twili completely off guard. Does that mean he was related to a tree?

“Wait, your dad was a tree?! Are you joking?” Twilight exclaimed a bit too loudly, catching the attention of Four and Sky, who had been watching the unfolding chaos. Sky’s eyes widened immensely, full of curiosity as he quickly trotted over.

“Time’s father? A tree? My, that must be an interesting story!” Sky clasped his hands together in delight, eager to learn more about the mysterious Time.

“No, the Deku Tree was the closest thing to a father I ever had. I am not part tree.” Time had to hold back a snicker as he clarified that he was not of leafy descent. “I doubt that. Your hair is a very light shade of green.” Four pointed out, raising a hand to his chin in deep thought.

“I think that colour’s called yellow, dumbass.” Wind called from where he stood. Sky growled for a moment then proceeded to shout back: “Watch your language!”

For the rest of the evening, the chain shouted and argued, but settled on to keeping the Korok, naming it Peppers, much to Four’s disgust.

@bokettochild I hope you don't mind I borrowed Ravio's nicknames for everyone :)

#ah #lin writes #linked universe #lu fanfic #lu sky #lu warriors #lu twilight #lu legend #ah i'm not gonna tag all of them #botw #wind and wild bonding #warriors swears once what a badboy

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noahstayed · 3 years ago

Note

Sorry if you've already answered these questions but I still want to ask them so...

1) Are you going to make another book after Earthshine?

(If the answer is yes; (and you don't have to answer this one,) Are you going to do a time skip or will you go the 'the condom broke'?)

2) Will Edward have a mate (If yes; will you create an OC or simply pluck a character from the twilight saga archives are revamp them?)

3) If you do make a version of Breaking Dawn, will it have the same premise (Ie. Wedding, Honeymoon, (I typed hUMANmoon and then corrected it, don't know why my fingers went there.) surprise pregnancy (or not? Because Carlisle is a DOCTOR) turning, then the Volturi going all "We must kill the child!"?)

4) With regards to question three, in the (honestly, and sadly, unlikely) ( completely forgot what word I was going to type, and It as too much trouble to type that so I'm just going to use another word that won't flow as well) situation (I'm so unhappy with this word, my stomach is turning something fierce, man.) that you DO go the standard "with the other book as a very, very, loose guideline) Would you go the route of OYH or would make an entirely new plot?

Also, if you do go with the same general outline, (which is unlikely since Irina isn't with Laurant in newmoon but with Charlie, so there's no bitter feelings and she won't immediately go to the kings before she's heard Carlisle's explanation.) How would you make that work?

5) I know you said that if you do make a fourth book you would just use the dhampire from OYH, Elisha, does that still reign true? Or are you planning to make a new character entirely?

6) If you do make a fourth, and go the OYH route, would you still make Elisha Emse's mate, like in OYH? Or will you go with Garette?

7) Also, since you have previously made an ff about Garette and Bella having a brother-sister type friendship would we see that and get to see Garette claim her as his sister and charlie as his father, and everyone goes along with it? (Honestly, I REALLY want this to happen, especially since I've spent the last hour scrolling through your tumbler and stumbled upon the 'I'm older than my father' post.)

8) Really, all these questions border on the main one of "is there going to be a breaking dawn/part 4-5 (depending) in your rewrite?" but if you do, would Carlisle buy Isle Bella as a honeymoon present of would that be in the oneshots book (that you'll hopefully be writing after this is over) as like a "Have fifteenth anniversary" thing?

9) Are you going to write a book full of random one-shots you couldn't fit into your story? I REALLY HOPE SO.

enthusiastically hope so. :) (that's really a tense smile with eyes SHINING with hope. Just informing you that you'll be crushing my heart. Brutally. With a stake. No pressure :) )

10) If you don't write the fourth book will we get an epilogue with the wedding five years later? Like, with Bella being SUPER nervous?

And finally, 11) (I really want a war to showcase Bella's awesome vampire powers (because you've stated (in a previous Tumblr post) that you'd give Bella her BAMF!Bella OYH powers)) So if there's a part four, even though the Volturi is "lawful" and like, has a brain, in your series, can they like have a brain fart where they go. "He's making an army," Or just straight up CANNON!Aro with his need for power be like "It's an immortal child, and it needs to be destroyed." But really be thinking, "They're growing too large, already their numbers rival our own, they must be put down! This is the perfect time!" Like the (cowardly) power-hungry and villainess we all know and love. Kinda.

I have other questions but those can really wait lol.

I basically want breaking dawn and the third (Do you count Charlie's book as part of Bella's story or as a stand-alone since you weren't really progressing the plot very much (also a very good way to have a time skip in your main)?) isn't even done yet.

I don't know if you can tell, but I've been reading this series for three days straight (new fan!) and just started your OYH series and I'm just filled with a desire right now. Like, I typically hate sex scenes in a twilight book (but that's because I was a child when these movies came out (saw them all in theatre!) and still was when I read the books, so Bella is SACRED lol, and It just makes me uncomfortable to imagine her in those positions (it's like a trauma okay?) but I really enjoyed your stories (even if I basically glossed over your sex scenes and read through them quickly) and could actually sit through your sex scenes (mostly, because it wasn't INTENSE! Like, a lot of rewrites turn breaking dawn into literal Porn and sully the books for me because they basically remove a lot of plot to make room for Bella's sudden appetite, and while, yes, you gave her an appetite and... I am just really enjoying your stories and how you write so Thank You.

Okay, I've let you know your appreciated and put out my question into the tumblr universe so now I just have to wait for you to see this and maybe respond.

I hate waiting.

I haven't gotten an ask in a while and AJKHFJKHD Listen!! THE FACE I MADE AT HOW LONG THIS IS??? Superb!! I'm honored you've taken the time to write this all out so I'm gonna try to answer you as best as I can!!

Right now I'm 100% sure that there will be a couple of Novellas/Novelettes directly after Earthshine. The Renee Story, the Charlie Story, and the Roommate Story which all will get maybe 40k and mini plots that are far more focused than Charlie's first story. Charlie's new story will be focused on his relationship with Carlisle too, so that should be fun!

Edward having a Mate is still up in the air at the moment. Since he is still very young, I don't see the need to really give him someone so quick when other characters have waited WAAAY longer. As for who it might be, that's also still up in the air in case I want to do a short story with him that's a part of a series of Novellas after the main books

If I do make a BD rewrite IT WILL have wedding/honeymoon/surprise pregnancy then it will PRETTY MUCH go off the rails from there because the Pregnancy will be VASTLY different. Carlisle is a Doctor and Bella isn't an idiot. They won't be in Washington either.

Again. The first half will be loosely based on the book and then just go completely off the rails because, Like you said, the Volturi have brains and I LOATHE an 'idiot' plot where people are required to suddenly become stupid for the story to work. As for the OYH route, I will be borrowing a couple elements from OYH but the conflict will be very different.

Elisha is baby and there's no way I could make another Dhampir at this point. Not with how much I love him.

The aging process will work differently in this fic for Dhampirs, so this question is irrelevant since Elisha will be a child for the entire fourth book. As for when he's older, Its still up in the air for this series. He deserves to be baby and I very much dislike the trope of age faster = mentally develop faster because that's BS.

We'll see, I love Bella and Garrett, but there's A LOT I'll have to cram into the last book so we'll just see.

As much as I'd love to answer this, I'm covering the honeymoon in the fourth book so you'll see what happens in there ; )

I HAVE PLANS for random one shots. I REALLY DO. I just has so little time to work on the main story so I might write some when Earthshine is done! I have a name for the one-shot collection already too and some Ideas!

I very much plan to write the fourth book you'll be fine. Bella will not be nervous, she'll be WAY more anxious about it going right. Mostly her nerves will be from anticipation and excitement because she'll be 23 and be very secure in her forever with Carlisle.

There will be a fight in book four that will not have the Volturi turning stupid. Don't worry about how.

Charlies little story is a Novella so I don't count it as a book.... GOD hearing you plowed through the series in so short a time is MIND boggling. I get people telling me this occasionally and I NEVER stop being amazed by it!

As for the sex scenes, yeah, I didn't want this to be erotic literature. I frequently scream that 'THIS ISN'T A SMUT BOOK' because them having sex is just a normal healthy thing that happens in relationships and wanted to show that. The sex scenes I write tend to be glossed over anyways so I'm glad it was readable for you. I get feeling frustrated and wanting more plot, but there are plenty of people who prefer the very explicit smut.

If sex scenes aren't your cup of tea, that's fine. I don't view Bella as pure and innocent though. It teeters dangerously on the Madonna/Whore dichotomy to act like she is. I get wanting to preserve the innocence of your childhood through her. That's not me though. Bella/Carlisle's relationship is highly sexual in nature within SoG and that's ALRIGHT too!

Thanks for the super long ask!!! it was great to read and fun to respond to!

#asked and answered #acadiatclements #long post #Sound of Grey Series #SoG #NoahStayed Writes #Bella x Carlisle #Carlisle x Bella #Bellisle

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crystalninjaphoenix · 4 years ago

Text

Reunions & Resistance

A JSE Fanfic

This one took me a while, but luckily, I was able to get it all done within the week, and do a lot of my homework too lol. Can’t wait for summer break, man. More time for writing. Anyway, a lot happened last chapter, and we’re mostly following up on that. I don’t want to say too much in case people haven’t read the last one, but basically we switch in between Chase and JJ’s points of view to see how they’re dealing with their respective...challenges. Hope you enjoy!

You can find the other stories under the pw timeline tag!

“Good night! I’ll see you later!” Chase stood on his front door and waved as the car pulled away from the side of the road. In the windows, a pair of small faces pressed up against the glass and waved back. Chase kept at it even as the car drove down the street, right up until the moment it disappeared around a corner. At which point he dropped his hand and turned around to head inside, smiling softly to himself. Halloween wasn’t his favorite holiday, but this? This was a good holiday.

He turned on the front room lights and was about to sit down when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Quickly, he dug it out to see a text from Marvin: Hey call me now please!

Perfect timing. Once he got settled in, he was planning on calling Marvin anyway, to tell him the good news. He guessed he could do it now. Quickly navigating to his contacts, he called Marvin’s number.

The other end was picked up on the first ring. “Chase!” Marvin said.

“Hi Marv. Are you out of court by now? You better be, it’s late.” He glanced out the window at the twilight sky. They ended up only going trick-or-treating for an hour, but the kids were still young and Stacy was worried, so it was fine. They’d go longer next time. “How’d it go?”

“Good, but Chase, there’s a thing—”

“So you won?”

“Yeah, that’s what I meant, but Chase!” Wait a second...Marvin sounded...frantic. “Have you seen JJ today?”

“Huh? No, not yet. I was gonna go over later. I was actually thinking about asking you if you’d seen him today. I expected you to rush right over after you got out.”

“I wanted to stop by home and pick up his present first,” Marvin explained. “So I did, and I went to his flat, but he’s not here.”

“That’s not too weird, is it?” Chase asked, wandering over to sit on the sofa. “Maybe he went out for dinner or something, it is his birthday, after all.”

“Maybe, but he would’ve told us, right? He knew that we were going to stop by.” Chase could hear the sound of Marvin’s nervous footsteps on a hardwood floor. “I’m still at his place, and the only thing that’s different is there’s these weird cupcakes on the counter. So maybe he did go out, but he has to have been here since then to drop them off, if that’s the case. I texted him a couple times, but he hasn’t answered any of them! There’s not even the little ‘Seen’ message popping up.”

“Whoa, Marvin, calm down a bit,” Chase said gently. “He’s probably just...maybe his phone is out of battery?”

“I don’t think so. He likes to keep it fully charged. Even has one of those portable battery things. Chase, it’s really weird that he’s not here,” Marvin insisted.

“Well, yeah, but there has to be an innocent explanation, right?” Chase wasn’t too sure himself, but he had to get Marvin to stop freaking out. He could hear faint thumping sounds on the other end now. “Are you hitting yourself? Marv, be careful, that could bruise.”

“R-right.” The thumping sounds changed, now more like knocking on a wall. Marvin’s breathing was shaky. “Should we call the police? I really don’t think he’d be gone, especially not today.”

“You can call them if you’re sure. Or I can, if you don’t want to talk.”

“Right. Right. I-I’ll text him one more time, just in case.”

There were a few moments of silence as Marvin took his phone away from his ear and started texting. Chase waited patiently, slightly amazed that Marvin’s phone could stay on a call while he needed to use it. He must have a more advanced model.

“Wha...?” Marvin made a small, confused sound. Then, after a slight pause: “Chase, his phone is here. JJ’s phone is here.”

“Well, no wonder he hasn’t been answering texts, then,” Chase said, trying to sound lighthearted.

“No no no, Chase, he wouldn’t leave his phone here if he was going out! He uses that text-to-speech app for people who don’t know BSL. A-and I can see his usual notepad on the coffee table, he didn’t take that either. He wouldn’t risk leaving both of those at home when he goes out!”

Chase’s heart slowly sank into a sea of dread. It was true; Jameson always made sure he had a backup way of communicating in case he ran into someone who couldn’t understand him. “The only way he would do that...” he said quietly. “...is if...either it was an emergency, or if someone...”

“I’m going to call the police now Chase!” Marvin practically shouted.

“Dude, do it! I’m hanging up right now!” And Chase did just that, ending the call.

It couldn’t be true, could it? Something couldn’t have happened to Jameson, right? He didn’t have any enemies or—

No. Wait.

“Shit!” Chase cursed. He was an idiot! The day had been going so well, he’d completely forgotten about Anti. He would certainly count as an enemy, even if he was Jameson’s brother. Maybe especially. Chase quickly sent a text to Marvin. WAIT I JUST REMEMBERED. Yo don thin kit could be that anti guy??.? Tell the police that too!

“God damn you,” Chase growled. “Fucking...Anti.” He’d never even met him, but he just kept making his and his friends’ lives hell, didn’t he? For over a year, now.

Would this ever end? Or would this cycle continue?

——————

Someone was driving a chisel into his head with a hammer. That’s what it felt like. His head was pounding, and each new spike of pain could have easily been in time with the smack of a hammer. He couldn’t even move, the headache was too overwhelming, tears leaking from his closed eyes. The moment it started to lessen up, he quietly drifted off to sleep.

Then, of course, he woke up with his head still hurting. But this time it was bearable. Still awful, but he managed to open his eyes.

This...wasn’t his room. This wasn’t his apartment. Nor was it a room in any of his friends’ houses. He didn’t recognize the pale yellow wall he was staring at, or the white blanket covering him. Slowly, he rolled onto his back, not wanting to make any sudden movement in case it aggravated his headache, but he didn’t see the ceiling. Instead, he saw wooden slats and the bottom of a mattress. A bunk bed? He didn’t know anyone who had a bunk bed. Where was he? Actually, what had happened before he ended up here? He cast his mind back, and—

Instantly, Jameson sat straight up, hitting his forehead against the oddly close bottom of the bunk above him. Crying out, he fell back and rubbed the spot of impact. That definitely didn’t help the headache.

Movement. Coming from the bunk above him, it sounded like, accompanied by creaking and the sound of fabric on fabric. “Wh-who’s down there?” A voice asked. “Are you—you’re awake?”

Actually, that voice sounded familiar. JJ pushed away the blankets and rolled over to the side of the mattress. He grabbed the headboard to help him stand up, since he felt strangely dizzy. Once up, he transferred his grip to the edge of the top bunk, pausing a moment to stop swaying. Then he looked up at the person on the top bunk.

“Wait a second. Jameson?! That’s you?!” It took JJ a moment to recognize Jackie, but once he did, he gasped. It had been almost a year since he’d last seen him, and in that time period, he’d changed a lot. Now he was a lot paler, his hair grown to shoulder-length, and his red hoodie was significantly darker, apparently not having been washed in a while. Jackie was holding onto the railings that surrounded the edge of the top bunk, dangerously leaning over. There was a metal cuff around one wrist, a length of chain connecting it to another cuff attached to one of the railings.

JJ slowly nodded, letting go of the bed to finger-sign. J-A-C-K-I-E?

“Oh my god. You too?! Why don’t we get everyone in here?! Fucking...Kidnapped party with the boys, hey-o!” Jackie laughed hysterically.

...Are you okay? JJ asked.

“Well, uh, relatively, I guess. I’m not, like, actively hurt or anything.” Jackie pressed a hand against his head. “Killer headache, though. You too?” JJ nodded. “Great. Fantastic. Probably from whatever drugs he used. Are you okay? What the hell are you doing here?!”

I’m fine. But it’s a long story. JJ looked around the room. The walls were all painted pale yellow. No windows, but he thought a square on the wall looked a bit different, so maybe the window had been bricked up and painted over. The bunk beds weren’t the only furniture. There was also a white wooden dresser and a similar-looking table, along with two chairs. A corner of the room had a mini fridge and several cabinets that looked like they belonged in a kitchen. There were two doors. One, open, led to an attached bathroom. The other door was closed. Though he knew it was probably a waste of time, JJ walked over there, staggering a bit with the dizziness, and tried the doorknob. Locked, of course. Do you know where we are? He signed, turning around to face Jackie.

“Where we are? No, sorry.” Jackie shook his head. “I’ve been held hostage in a couple different places by now, and this isn’t any of the previous ones. Or maybe it is. It could be in that first house, just in a room I didn’t get to see. But, uh. Yeah. We’ve probably been asleep for a while, judging by his usual style. So there’s no way of knowing.” He paused. “You, uh. Seem weirdly calm about this.”

I'm saving the emotional breakdown for later and looking for a way out now, JJ said, then idly tried the door again. He leaned down to look more closely at the knob. It looked normal. No loose screws when he shook it or anything.

“Oh.” Jackie paused. “Well then, fair enough, but I mean. You haven’t even asked who kidnapped you or why I’m here or what’s going on. Just where we are. I was expecting a bunch more questions.”

Well I already know all those, so I only wanted to know where. JJ tried to peer through the gap of the door. Weren’t there some locks that could be worked around if you slid something through there? Idly, he patted his pockets despite knowing there probably wouldn’t be anything in there. But then he had to stop. He didn’t have any pockets. What? Impossible. He looked down at his clothes, and noticed for the first time that they didn’t belong to him. Blue T-shirt, black pants, white socks. Strangely, he still had his pocket watch, now hanging around his neck. Also I want to know where my clothes are.

“Man, he gave you new clothes? Lucky,” Jackie said jokingly. “But anyway.” He returned to being serious. “What do you mean, you already know? That is what you said, right? You can’t already know everything.”

JJ turned around. Jackie wasn’t as knowledgeable in BSL as all the others, given how he’d been abducted before he could become fluent, so he signed slowly, finger-spelling occasionally. I know I’ve been taken by a man calling himself Anti, and that he took you back in December and Henrik in August. He’s a mercenary who has apparently started kidnapping and serial killing as a hobby. He made Henrik help him with some of that, and now Henrik is in a mental hospital because of all the trauma combined with previous issues. And I know Anti isn’t going to kill me.

That was a lot, and Jackie went silent for a bit as he processed it. “Well. Okay, then. You actually know more than I do.”

JJ tried to smile, then walked over to the dresser and started pulling open its drawers. More clothes, similar to what he was already wearing. No shoes, only socks. Jackie. Do you think you could get down from there, or are you stuck?

“Uh...I think I’m stuck, but honestly, I haven’t tried yet,” Jackie mumbled. “I woke up like. A few minutes ago. Oh hey, there’s a clock on the wall! That’s new. Man, this is the nicest place I’ve been captive in yet. Hang on, I’m gonna see if this chain is long enough to let me get down.”

The ladder to the top bunk was over at the foot of the bed, while Jackie was cuffed to the railing near the head. He crawled over, managing to put his feet on the top rung. But that’s where it got difficult. Spinning around, he could only reach the middle rung before he had to stop, arm yanked taunt to the side. “Yeah, no. Sorry, JJ.” He climbed back to the top bunk, sitting once again at the top of the ladder.

It’s alright, JJ said, frowning. But I can see several complications with that.

“Oh yeah, trust me, it all sucks,” Jackie sighed. “Uh...so. How do you know Anti isn’t going to kill you? I mean, honestly, I’m still not so sure that I’m...um...” He suddenly looked uncomfortable, and more than a bit scared. “A-anyway, you seemed like you definitely knew.”

JJ sighed. He walked over to the chairs at the table and sat down, taking a break to press his hands to his throbbing head. He should probably tell Jackie, right? After all, he’d told Chase and Marvin. And it would be good for them all to be on the same page. Anti is my brother, he explained.

“What?! Like, biologically? For real?”

Yes, unfortunately. He’s my older brother, I lived with him for seven years. Well, technically longer, if you count when we were kids, before we were put into the system. But I mean, he practically raised me from sixteen. Jameson paused. He wasn’t good at it.

“I can imagine,” Jackie muttered. “Wow. Wow, man. That...that sucks.”

Jameson nodded. I thought I’d never see him again, but then he appeared in this city, got involved with all of you, and...I guess it was only a matter of time before he...realized who I was. But I hoped...He squeezed his eyes shut against the sudden wetness in them. I hoped that this wouldn’t happen.

“Wait, did you know he was going to kidnap you if he found you?”

No, but I knew it was a possibility. JJ laughed quietly. That really says something about the kind of person he is, doesn’t it?

Jackie shook his head slowly. “I’m...so sorry, Jameson. Is there anything I can do?”

Jameson thought about that. Well, we need to get out of here. I know it’s going to be difficult, but if there’s anything you can do...

“Right.” Jackie glanced down at his cuffed wrist, then nodded. “Right. H-how about I start with...telling you everything I’ve noticed about him? Maybe if we know how he acts, that’ll help.”

That sounds like a great idea. It had been three years since he’d seen Anti, after all. A lot could change in that time. And I’ll tell you what I remember.

“Pool our information,” Jackie said. He took a deep breath. “Right. Okay, so to start from the beginning...”

——————

A day passed. The police looked over Jameson’s apartment, finding nothing suspicious. Marvin identified everything in the rooms as belonging to JJ except for the cupcakes in the plastic packaging, with their blue frosting. Normally, the police probably would’ve dismissed them, but once Marvin explained the situation—namely, that JJ was part of the friend group that included Dr. Schneeplestein and a missing private detective named Jackie Donovan, both of whom had been proven to have been kidnapped—they decided to run tests on them.

Two days passed. Chase finally got around to explaining the good news he’d received earlier on Halloween to Marvin. That cheered him up briefly, but he was quickly overcome with worry for JJ again. And Chase felt that same worry threatening to engulf him as well. Especially after the detectives contacted them both and said that the strange cupcakes had definitely been laced with illegal sedatives: namely, the strong, but slow-acting, variety. That pushed them to label the case as a definite abduction, with this strange Anti as the main suspect. The same detectives that were working on Jackie’s case took this one, as well, since it was so likely to be linked.

Four days passed. Marvin wasn’t doing so well. Chase was newly busy, but he made sure to check on him. A good thing he did, too, because there were a couple times when he walked in the house and Marvin was just lying in bed, clearly been there since he woke up that morning, often with a cat or two nearby and a bunch of tearstained tissues. Chase wasn’t one to miss the irony of the situation, having been in that position before with his friends being the ones to check in on him. But at least he knew what to do. Make food, insist on hydration, encourage movement, and offer distraction. And also feed the snake and the cats. That part was new.

A week passed. No news from the police. Chase had to admit that maybe there wouldn’t be news for a while, though he didn’t express that to Marvin. After checking in on his friend one more time, he headed out for his other business of the day, which was, incidentally, more visiting and checking in on people.

Chase had stopped by the hospital every day that week. Honestly, the routine distracted him, and it was good to see some progress being made somewhere. By now a lot of the staff were familiar with him, and didn’t even bother to ask him who he was there to visit. Though a lot of them still directed him to the appropriate wing. It was probably required to.

One short trip up an elevator and down a hallway, and Chase pushed walked through the open doorway of the room, making sure to put on a cheerful expression. “Hey bro. It’s me again.”

Jack’s eyes immediately opened at the sound, head swivelling over to look towards him. He managed a small smile—that was good, he was having trouble with facial movements—and a slight up-and-down hand motion that wasn’t really a wave as much as it was a flop. “Hhh...hhiii. Sha-ays.”

“Hi Jack.” Chase took his usual spot in the chair next to the bed. “You’re looking good.”

“Mmnh.”

“No, really.”

Jack reached to the side and hit the controls for the bed, raising it into more of a sitting position. He pointed towards the table next to the bed.

“Oh, right.” Chase twisted around and picked something up. A board about the size of a large school notebook, with rows of squares printed on its surface. Each square had a different word or phrase written inside, some accompanied by handy pictograms. This was a communication board. Dr. Emerson had explained it was meant to help people who had difficulty speaking normally. It looked a bit childish, with the pictures and color-coded squares, which made sense, because they were apparently primarily used for kids. But Emerson said that, since Jack was still having trouble talking and moving, this was a good alternative. “Here you go, dude.”

Jack dipped his head in a slow nod. He adjusted the bed a bit more, then propped the board up using an arm and used the other hand to point. Chase scooted a bit closer to look at the square he was indicating: How are you?

“Oh, I’m good,” Chase said. It was, of course, a bit of a lie, since he was still really worried about Jameson. But that was a complicated situation that he didn’t really feel like talking about. “What about you? How are you feeling?”

“Mmnn.” Jack pointed to a square labelled Bored.

Chase laughed. “You need a TV or something in here. I thought hospital rooms were all supposed to have them. Like, they came pre-installed with those old boxy models that hang from the ceilings.”

“Heh.” Another small smile, though this one was a bit weaker and quickly fell. Ater a moment, Jack pointed to a different square, this one simply labelled Phone with an accompanying simple picture.

“Yeah, I have my phone.” Chase pulled it out of his pocket. “Why? Do you want to text someone?”

The No box, accompanied by a slight head shake.

“Okay. Then...do you want to take a picture or something?”

The Yes box.

“Really? Well, I don’t know if you can hold the phone,” Chase said reluctantly. Jack was having trouble even holding a pencil, hence why he couldn’t write. “Here, we can take a picture together, okay?”

“Eeuh.” The Yes box.

“Alright.” Chase opened up the front-facing camera, then leaned over next to Jack. “Look at the camera.” Jack appropriately turned his head towards the raised phone, and gave one last small smile. Chase matched him with a big smile of his own, and took a couple pictures. “There we go. Look at us.” He showed the phone to Jack, swiping through the photos. “I like this first one, what about you?”

“Ffferr.” Jack tapped a box with the number One in it.

“Right? We look good.” Chase laughed a bit, then put the phone away. “Hey, none of those tubes got mixed up or pulled out while we were doing that, right?”

Jack turned to look around, then slowly reached up and touched his nasal cannula. I don’t think so, said the box on the board he tapped.

“You have a call button you can press, right?” Chase asked fretfully.

Yes box.

“Good. Good.” Chase let out a short breath. If anything happened to Jack after all of this, he would...he would...well, he honestly wasn’t sure what he would do, but it wouldn’t be good.

“Shhays?” Jack asked. “Wh...wherr Mahffin?”

“Where’s Marvin? Oh, uh.” Chase hesitated. “He’s been busy lately.”

“Mmmm?” I don’t think so box.

“You don’t believe me, huh?” Chase shrugged. “Well, it’s true. I don’t know that much about it, either. I guess maybe one of his holidays is approaching. That or he’s looking for a new job.” That second one was actually true. Or at least, it had been before Jameson disappeared. Chase knew Marvin had put in applications at a couple different places, but he didn’t know if any of them had been accepted.

“Mmnnh.” Jack blinked slowly. “Sshays? Whh...whhbout faays?” There was a worried edge to his voice. “Ffay Shays. Fffay Mhffin.”

“The fakes. Right.” Chase nodded slowly, swallowing back a lump in his throat. “I guess I did promise to explain that.”

“Eeuah.” Yes box.

“Well...” Chase hesitated. “Did...did the doctor explain to you why you were in a coma?”

Yes box. “Ssneeep.”

“Yeah, Schneep made some mistakes. I-I guess only you know what really happened that day.” Chase sighed. “And I guess you can explain that once you figure out how. Y’know, I...explained the whole situation to you a couple times, while you were asleep. I don’t know how much you heard. But...basically. What’s important when it comes to the matter of ‘the fakes’ is...” And he hesitated again.

“Shaays,” Jack said, sharply gesturing to the Now box.

“I know, I know, it’s just...it’s hard, bro.” Chase took a deep breath. “Okay. So there’s a criminal running around. Which is, I know, freaky. But basically, he’s one of the dopplegangers. Looks like us, you know? So ‘the fakes’ are when he...would pretend to be us. A-and I guess he came in to see you while doing that?” He shuddered. “I don’t know why. None of us do. But it’s going to be okay. The doctor knows, a-and he knows to make sure it’s me. Uh...because Marvin’s been...busy this week, he hasn’t come in to see you. And when he does, I’m gonna come, too. So...if Marvin comes in alone, that’s not him. But you, uh, probably shouldn’t indicate that. Um. Got all that?”

Jack stared at him for a long while, then slowly tapped the Yes box.

“It’s a lot, I know,” Chase said reassuringly. “It can be uh...do you need a moment?”

Another long pause. Then the I am okay box.

“Okay, if you’re sure.” Chase let out a breath. “What would even happen when ‘the fakes’ showed up? Would they just talk to you?”

Yes box.

“Probably not about normal stuff.”

No box. Followed by the I am scared box.

“Wha—” Chase coughed awkwardly. “Y-you mean he said upsetting things?”

Jack made a small sound, almost like a whimper. Yes box.

“Oh...oh no.” Chase shook his head. He knew from experience that it was really easy to talk to someone who couldn’t answer, to pour out everything you wouldn’t normally say because you knew they couldn’t tell anyone what you said. In the past, talking to comatose Jack had been a way for him to be honest when he felt terrible, but for an actual criminal to come in and talk like that? Those secrets would probably be a lot darker. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Jack blinked at him. Then indicated the How? box.

“...right. The board is good, but I guess it wouldn’t have all the words you need.” Chase nodded. “Well. I mean, later. If you want to talk about it, you can. I-I can teach you BSL, when you’ve got, y’know...better hands.” Jack wheezed at that, a short laugh that made Chase smile. “Yeah, JJ taught me. You remember me telling you about him, right?”

Yes box. “Hhee...sow-sounsss...nai-nais.”

“He is really nice. I think you’d get along.” Chase went quiet. What was happening to Jameson now? It couldn’t be good, not if Anti was involved. Damn it. He couldn’t let anything else happen to his friends! All of them have been through so much already. Marvin was breaking down, Schneep and Jack were in hospitals, and Jackie and Jameson were being held hostage by Jameson’s psychopathic older brother. Enough was enough! He had to do something!

“Shays?” Jack’s head listed to the side, and he tapped the How are you? box.

“O-oh. Yeah, I’m alright, bro, don’t worry, I was just thinking.” Chase shook his head. It was settled. He’d figure out a way to deal with this situation more directly. “Anyway, I was wondering. Can you, like, eat normal foods yet?”

No box.

“Aw, man. I was gonna offer to bring you coffee tomorrow.”

Jack’s eyes widened a bit. “Waa-aay. W-whhayy!”

Chase laughed. “Glad to see that hasn’t changed. But, well, doctor’s orders and all that.”

“Ahhhh.” Jack tried to frown, but only managed a twitch in his mouth.

“One thing to look forward to after all that physical therapy,” Chase reached over to squeeze Jack’s wrist. “You know, you’re already improving really fast. You might be out of here in a couple months.”

“Heh.” That definitely cheered Jack up.

Chase smiled, and quickly moved on. Later, he’d try to think up a way to deal with other situations. He couldn’t just abandon his friends, after all, and he was getting real sick of all this terrible shit happening. But that would need some more planning. For now, he’d focus on one thing at a time.

——————

They’d been stuck in the room for a week, and JJ was starting to get really worried. Why hadn’t Anti showed up yet? What was he planning? Luckily, they wouldn’t starve, as it turned out the mini fridge and strange cabinets had been stocked with food. But that had to run out eventually. What was going on?

The room was locked down tight. The door outside was solid, and that weird square on the wall that might’ve been a sealed-up window showed no signs of wear. There wasn’t a window in the bathroom, either. But on the morning of the second day, JJ did find a small key in the bathroom’s medicine cabinet, which turned out to unlock the cuff on Jackie’s wrist. “Thank god for that,” Jackie had muttered when JJ unchained him from the bunk. “Not gonna lie, though, it’s weird being able to actually walk around.”

Jackie seemed mostly bored with the whole situation, to be honest. Which probably made sense. After all, he did keep reiterating that this was the most comfortable captivity he’d been in since Anti took him. But Jameson just found himself getting more and more worried as time passed. He tried to distract himself by helping Jackie catch up on his sign language learning, but eventually that didn’t work, and he just kept pacing the floor, anxiety slowly growing with every passing hour.

When the locked door finally opened, JJ was almost relieved that the anticipation was over with. But that relief was quickly overshadowed when someone stepped into the room and shut the door.

It was Anti, of course. He didn’t look too much different from how Jameson remembered him. Same brown hair, same single blue eye accompanied by a fake green one. Same scars over half his face, though the long one across his throat was new. However, that watch hanging on a chain around his neck...that was not new. Jameson recognized that immediately, and resisted the urge to reach up and grab his own watch, around his own neck.

The moment Anti entered, Jackie went pale, sitting down hard on the bottom bunk and scooting back until he hit the wall. But Jameson couldn’t move. He stopped his nervous pacing against the wall by the dresser and instantly froze, eyes locked onto Anti. And Anti stared at him in turn, eyes occasionally flicking up and down as he looked him over. The room was silent enough for the three men’s breathing to echo in the air.

Then, slowly, Anti took a couple steps away from the door. He was still standing in between the other two and their only exit, but he didn’t keep guarding it. JJ then noticed that Anti was holding two plastic bags in one hand, which he then set on the ground. Finally, Anti looked away from Jameson, searching the room with his eyes before landing on Jackie. He frowned. “What are you doing? That’s not your bed.”

Jackie flinched. He scrambled up from the bottom bunk and towards the ladder, climbing up it to the top, where he resumed his position with his back against the wall. Anti nodded, then glanced towards the other end of the cuffs still attached to the railing. “Where’s the key?”

Nobody answered, but Jackie instinctively glanced towards Jameson before glancing back. That didn’t go unnoticed by Anti, who looked back towards him. Jameson still couldn’t move. He couldn’t if he wanted to. He was a statue with limbs made of cold, solid stone, a beating heart in his chest pounding loudly in his ears.”Well...I guess it’s fine, then,” Anti finally said, not looking away from Jameson. He went silent for a few seconds. Then: “Jamie.”

That finally broke the spell, and Jameson backed up. What was he supposed to do? He’d been so worried about why Anti wasn’t showing up, that he didn’t think what to do when he finally did. His mind was scrabbling for purchase on shaking ground. His pulse was racing wildly. He couldn’t think of a solution. It wasn’t even an option underneath the sudden appearance of emotion whirling around his brain. Fear? Grief? Dread? Surprise? Relief?

“Do you...like the room?” Anti asked.

It was such an absurd question that the only response Jameson could muster was a strangled choking sound.

“I-I mean, it’s not exactly a five-star hotel, but I tried to make it nice. You have to share it, unfortunately, limited space. Do you two know each other? You’re friends the rest of the group.”

He just had to respond to that statement. How do you know that? Jameson asked, signing shakily.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on them,” Anti stated plainly. “Didn’t realize who you were until I saw you signing with that long-haired one, Marvin. You’re not online, so I couldn’t figure it out from tagging or anything. Took some more old-fashioned work.”

You were stalking me, Jameson said. Weren’t you?

“I had to find out where you lived, didn’t I?” Anti said, ignoring the faint shake of Jameson’s head. “But you caught on. Hah. You always were a clever boy.”

What do you want? Jameson asked. Why did you do this?! He added, signs growing steadier.

“Well you were going to freak out if I tried to talk to you normally, weren’t you?” Anti’s voice was unnervingly calm. “And I was right. I didn’t want to do this, but you kind of made me. So here we are.”

I didn’t ‘make you’ do anything! Jameson protested. You never have to kidnap people!

“This isn’t a kidnapping.”

Jameson just pointed over at Jackie, staring at Anti significantly.

Anti hesitated. Then he laughed. “Alright, I guess it is. Like I said, you’re a clever boy, Jamie.”

Stop calling me that! Jameson signed sharply, feeling a rise of sudden white-hot rage. I hate it, I’ve always hated it, and it doesn’t make this whole thing better if you keep calling me by that stupid nickname! It doesn’t change the fact that you drugged me and took me to some place far away and are now keeping me here against my will!

“Against your will? Aw, you mean you don’t want to see your big brother again?” Anti tilted his head to the side and smiled sickeningly.

Jameson shook his head violently. No! You’re a murderer who just abduct—

“Because I’ve been dying to see you again,” Anti interrupted, walking closer. Jameson paled, but found he couldn’t back up. “Did you know I thought you were dead? Did I tell you that already? I doubt you planned it to look that way, honestly, you’re clever but you never plan ahead. So I guess it was just a coincidence that the note you left sounded like a...permanent goodbye. Why’d you throw your jacket in the river, though?” Anti slowly reached up and grabbed the watch around his neck. “Did you think about what that would imply?” he asked softly.

And once again, Jameson was a statue, petrified by Anti’s dual-colored gaze like a real-world victim of Medusa. God damn it, why did Anti sound actually hurt by this? Was he actually hurt? JJ hadn’t really been thinking when he’d dropped his old jacket in the river three years ago, he just saw his reflection in the water, and suddenly wanted to get rid of the jacket his brother had bought him. So he did, then fled with the suitcase he’d packed. It was true, he hadn’t really been planning ahead when he left, though he’d thought about how Anti would react. Sometimes he wanted to go back, hating to make him sad, but convincing himself he was probably angry. Still, he remembered almost doubling back at a couple different bus stops, thinking it wasn’t worth it.

Had Anti really thought...? Something like that would be upsetting to anyone, especially over someone who’d been under your care for years. He never meant to—

Why was he thinking about this?!

Jameson shook his head, and pushed Anti back. I don’t care what you thought, he said harshly. I don’t care how you felt.

“Of course you do,” Anti said. “I saw how you were hesitating. We’re brothers, Jameson, we care about each other. And you’re so sensitive, of course you can’t help it.”

No, no, no. Jameson continued to shake his head. I don’t care how you felt because you never cared what I felt. A seventeen-year-old shouldn’t be helping to dispose of a body. A twenty-year-old shouldn’t be afraid to go outside because his brother convinced him enemies would be after him.

“I didn’t want to get you involved in any of it,” Anti insisted. “But sometimes I had to! I couldn’t do it alone. Jamie—Jameson, it killed me to ask for your help. I just wanted you to be safe, but I was putting you in active danger out of necessity. So I had to make sure that nothing happened to you, especially when I was out and couldn’t protect you. I was just trying to keep you safe.”

You’re contradicting yourself, Jameson signed, keeping his face carefully expressionless. Keeping me safe, yet continually involving me in your work? You were a hypocrite back then, and you’re a hypocrite now.

“Oh my god, why can’t you just understand?!” Anti suddenly shouted. “No, of course! You don’t understand! You’re not even trying! It was so fucking difficult, Jameson, I did what I had to.” He took a deep breath. “Please, Jamie. You’re a sweet boy. Always have been. Why can’t you be now?”

Because you fucking kidnapped four people and killed thirteen! Jameson signed, aghast. Are we forgetting that? Or are you just trying to get me to?

Anti sighed, looking disappointed. “Alright. We can stop for the night.” He backed up, glancing over towards the bunk beds to make sure Jackie was still sitting there. “It’s a complicated situation, all of it. But you’re my little brother, and I care about you.” He reached the door, and grabbed the handle. “I brought you groceries, since I saw you were about halfway through them. I’ll stop by again.” And quickly, he opened the door and slipped out, the lock clicking behind him.

Silence.

Then Jackie let out a long, slow breath. “That was...that was f-fucking terrifying.”

JJ relaxed, letting out all of the tension he’d been holding. I told you he wasn’t aggressive all the time, he said, walking over to the plastic bags Anti had left on the floor and crouching down to look through them. A lot of dry foods. No drinks, but that was fine, since the mini fridge was full of them. He grabbed the bags and moved them over to the cabinet area.

“Yeah, but...it’s an entirely different thing to see it in person.” Jackie slowly inched back over to the bunk beds’ ladder, sitting with his feet on the top rung. “Mother of fuck. I thought it couldn’t get worse than the time he was strangling me, but that. It wasn’t exactly threatening, but it was...wow.”

Sorry, the time he what?! JJ asked, eyes wide as he turned to look back at Jackie.

“Oh. Uh...I-I’ll explain later, if you want,” Jackie mumbled. “What did he bring?”

Dropping the subject for now, JJ glanced through the bags again. Everything we need, he said. You’re right. He’s watching us.

Jackie nodded. “Of course. Wonder where the camera is this time.”

Jameson gave the room a sweep with his eyes. There wasn’t anywhere obvious, but then again, modern cameras were so tiny. It could be anywhere. A direct connection to Anti. He’d be always there, always watching...

Suddenly, Jameson’s legs gave out and he fell to the floor.

“JJ!” Jackie scrambled down the ladder and rushed over. “What happened?! Are you okay?”

“Hhhhnnn.” Jameson covered his mouth. His furious blinking couldn’t hold back the tears anymore, and a few slipped out. He got into a kneeling position, slowly shaking his head.

“Are you hurt? I-I mean physically?” Jackie reached out to touch Jameson’s shoulder, only for him to sharply pull away and shake his head harder. “I—okay. What’s wrong? What do you need?”

He just kept shaking his head, now trembling all over as he bent over and covered his head with his arms. It was just one conversation. One conversation, and in the course of that conversation, he had frozen up, gotten angry, then slowly started buying into what Anti was saying. He managed to catch himself this time but...It was going to go back to the way it used to be. There was no way to escape it. And now, he was physically trapped as well, unable to leave. He’d just keep listening to Anti. God damn it. God damn it! He couldn’t do this!

“H-hey, it’s...I mean, that looked really hard to do.” Jackie sat down on the floor next to him, crossing his legs. “But you did it, you know. It was really impressive, actually.”

Jameson looked up, and managed to start signing. I won’t be able to do it next time.

“What are you talking about? Of course you will!” Jackie smiled a bit, before looking grave. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s still going to be hard. But you’ve done it before. Hell, sounds like you managed to run away from the bastard in the past. When you were on your own, too. I probably can’t do much to, like, fight back, but I’ll still be here. Kind of have to be, ha. So...that’s different, I guess. Tell me if you need anything. Okay? I promise I’ll help.”

Jackie’s positivity was a bit awkward, but his tone was genuine. JJ found himself relaxing. He took a few deep breaths, then looked around the room. Things he could see: bunk bed, bags, bathroom door, mini fridge, Jackie. Things he could hear: his heartbeat, breathing, Jackie talking, slight humming from the lights. Things he could feel...he went down through the list.

“You...are you okay?” Jackie asked.

Better, JJ replied. But a bit drained. I think I’m going to take a nap.

“Alright. Go ahead. I’ll get these groceries sorted out.”

JJ nodded, and stood up, making his way over to the bottom bunk. Pushing the covers aside, he climbed in, turning to face the wall. His pocket watch was still hanging from his neck, and this time, he couldn’t stop himself from holding it. Then he took it off. Not around the neck. Somewhere different. To remind him that things weren’t the same.

Slowly, he fell asleep to the sound of Jackie rummaging in the cabinets.

——————

That hadn’t gone well. Anti sat down at his desk, replaying the conversation over. Where had he gone wrong? There must have been a couple places. Jameson clearly didn’t trust him, for obvious reasons. So, he’d need to find some way to gain it back. If Jameson wanted him to leave him alone, then he would. For a bit. Refine his conversation skills and what to say. Put more effort into it. He might have to lie at times, but that was fine.

He glanced at his phone. Some notifications alerting him to new messages in his...“work” email. Eventually, he’d have to answer some. That was how he got money, after all, which allowed him things like this new safe house.

What about Jackie? He’d been pretty quiet during that encounter. Good. If he was trying to gain Jameson’s trust, it would be a shame to hurt a friend of his. He’d let him be for now.

Anti looked over at the other item on the desk. A small turquoise notebook. After a few seconds, he reached over and picked it up, fanning through the pages until he reached one in particular. Then, he slid something out from between them. A keycard. He’d been reading this notebook for a while, and based on the contents, he could guess what this card was for. Why Marvin had it, he wasn’t sure, since it clearly belonged to that doctor woman.

And he wondered...should he make use of the card now? Or should he wait a while?

He played with the card for a minute, flipping it over his fingers. No, he’d wait. He already had enough to deal with at the moment. Maybe once he’d adjusted to the change. Still, it didn’t mean he couldn’t give the idea some thought. Bring it into solid reality.

Three at once might be a little much, but he could handle them.

And Jameson might like another friend.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticegos #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticeye au #septic egos au #septic egos #chase brody #marvin the magnificent #jameson jackson #jackieboy man #antisepticeye #brigid writes fanfiction #pwtimeline

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linerwriter · 5 years ago

Text

Taps

Phew, it’s been what, two months since I posted a fic? Uh, yeah, sorry, lots of stuff come up that I won’t get into, but I’m back and nearly made myself cry with this. It was partly inspired by @jinmukangwrites for their most recent fic, Graceful (thanks for making me cry jin), but the plots have nothing to do with each other.

Originally, this started from the idea of ‘what if Wild had been dying ever since he got out of the shrine and the only thing keeping him alive was the Champion’s gifts, but they were also running out of power, so he eventually died’ but it had to be changed because I didn’t know if fallen soldiers also had Taps played at their funeral if they died of natural causes. I may still do the original one, though. At some point.

Anyway, please enjoy! I can’t promise I’ll be back to posting stuff like I used to, but I’ll try to be more active about it!

The last couple lines are lyrics to the tune Taps by Daniel Butterfield.

Twilight didn’t know how he had let it happen. He always expected one of them to die, but never like this, and never him. He was supposed to be the big brother, the pack leader, and he failed.

He could remember the words exactly, they were such a slap to the face.

“Dying? What do you mean he’s dying?” Wind asked the princess in a panic. She had a bittersweet smile on her face gazing down at her friend, the one she trusted her life with.

“He is dying and has been since that beam was fired.” She stated matter of factly, brushing the knight’s bangs from his sweaty forehead. Twilight wasn’t sure how he felt about her touching his cub.

“So you knew and never thought to tell us?” Warriors growled with a look of malice etched onto his face. Twilight was surprised he could even feel the same amount of hatred in his heart.

“Yes, we did.”

Twilight sighed. It was time to get ready.

On went the stuffy suit, a darker variation of the royal guard uniform with a woven pattern signifying his status faintly seen on his breast. He didn’t have many clothes for this occasion- as a matter of fact, none of them did- but due to their status as heroes, the princess decided it was best for them to wear the ensemble.

“And on comes the special hat,” Twilight said gruffly, ignoring the empty feeling in his chest. It wouldn’t do for him to start crying now.

“We typically wear the beret when we need to look nice, but since we’re laying an old friend down to rest, we wear this instead.” The old man turned around slowly and took the dusty cap out of the garment bag. “Ah, if only he was around to see this.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Twilight saw Time frown. “What do you mean by that, sir?”

The man chuckled heartily, “I was an old friend of that hero back before the Calamity hit. We used to joke that he’d have to wear the cap at my funeral because he was such a damn perfectionist. Now look where we are.”

Twilight glanced at the sun outside the window. It was nearly time to go.

He took slow steps down the stairs, gently touching his gloved hands to the wooden railing. If he looked close enough, he would see the faint etchings into the wood from the many times they had chased each other up and down these steps.

Further down into the house he went until he came upon the dining room. A startling memory rose from the deepest parts of his mind, of a time when his cub was okay and safe.

“Hey, Twilight?”

“Yes, cub?”

“What do you think will happen when I die?”

Twilight looked over to the younger man, a faint frown hidden behind his lips. “Why do you ask that?”

A shrug. “Curiosity. Forget it, pass me the salt, please?”

A swift shake of his head and an about-face later, he came upon the front door and opened it to the fresh outdoors. He took a deep breath in, smelling all of the different, subtle scents in the air, and stepped outside for the first time in quite a while.

“Legend, please come out.” His friend pleaded.

Silence, until, “No.”

The man gave a frustrated sigh, “If you don’t come out, you won’t get dinner!”

“I don’t want dinner!”

“Then what do you want?”

“I want her!”

All at once, the man’s ruffled expression softened into one of concern and understanding. Twilight watched him get up and leave the fire, not coming out until the next morning.

The procession was small. Friends and family only, with friends being minimal and family being massive. No matter whom he interacted with, the fallen soldier was loved by many.

Time came up beside the young wolf, “Have any words to say?”

Twilight shook his head, “None that I would want said outloud.”

Time nodded and the two lapsed into silence. A quick glance from Time later and Twilight sighed, “What?”

“How are you holding up?”

“I’m doing fine, Time, it’s been a couple weeks already.”

“So? Time is irrelevant in regards to the heart.”

Twilight shot a flat stare to the older man, “I’m fine, grandpa, now give me a break and go back to where you’re actually needed.” He nudged his chin in Sky’s direction, who had buried his face in Hyrule’s chest.

Time shot him a warning look, “Fine. If you’re really alright, I’ll go. But if you need me, I’m always welcome.”

“Just go already!”

“Just go already!” Twilight heard the shorter man scream. “We can’t fight them off all at once!”

“But what about you?”

“I’ll be fine, just go!”

He wasn’t fine.

There wasn’t a dry tear in the house by the time they got to the designated spot outside the shrine. It was a quick trip from Hateno to the plateau, even with the number of people and the special cargo.

Twilight wasn’t sure what time it was at that point. It could’ve been midnight for all he cared. That numb feeling in his chest wouldn’t go away no matter what he did, so he had been stuck in a blind haze since he heard the news. He wished it would disappear soon.

“I can’t speak for everyone when I say this,” the princess’s shaky voice startled Twilight out of his thoughts, “but I think, as the person who knew him the most, I can say that he would’ve wanted us all to be here.”

The Gerudo chief nodded her head in agreement, her closed eyes blocking her from the world. “He was stubborn until the very end.”

“Twilight, wait!” Twilight turned around quickly at the sound of his cub’s voice. “I-I’m sorry about what I said!”

“Oh, are you, now?” Twilight snapped. His cub slowed to a stop, looking hurt, but hurridly shook it away, a determined look entering his eyes.

“I know I don’t always seem to care about myself, but I am aware about how you guys feel. I-it doesn’t always come off that way, but I have been trying to take better care of myself. So don’t feel like I don’t, alright?”

Twilight sighed, his anger already fading away. “I know, cub. I know.”

He wished they had more time to talk about it.

He sees them lowering it into the ground. It has to go closer to the side of the mountain or else it would be a shallow grave.

He’s been trying so hard to keep it together. So, so hard. That numbness in his chest is finally going away, but it instead turns into a soul-wrenching wail for something he can’t get back anymore.

Flashes go through his mind of his cub’s long, blonde hair, flailing in the wind. Of his bright blues when they had a successful hunt. Of his heaving chest after having gone through a nightmare. Of the first time his cub smiled and it wasn’t a grin.

And as that lilting melody travels through the hair, calling all of the fallen to rest, Twilight finally allows himself to cry.

Days is gone, Gone the sun,

From the lake, From the hill,

From the sky.

All is well, Safely rest,

God is nigh.

#linkeduniverse #linked universe #hero of twilight #hero of time #everyone else #major character death #funeral #i got inspired by jin #and taps #look jin you have your own tag #angst #nearly made myself cry

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elizabethemerald · 5 years ago

Note

would you be interested in writing morgana/barbara fluff? Them cuddling for movie night (or something equally as soft and sapphic)?

Here you go! You said movie night and my brain thought to gay couple meeting their partner’s kids. Thanks for the patience!

Please Reblog if you like it!

Jim breathed out in relief as he rounded the corner. No matter how far he traveled, no matter how long he's gone, turning this corner always felt the same, like coming home. His bag was slung over his shoulder, as he walked up to the house he had grown up in. It would be nice to see his mom again. He rang the doorbell, but didn't have to wait long before the door was flung open.

"Jim!" His mom cried out in joy. She immediately wrapped him in a tight hug. "Why didn't you call me? I could have driven you home."

"Hey mom." Jim said, holding her back just as tightly. When he finally pulled back his mom had a wide smile on her face and looking closely at his face. "I like walking in the twilight. Especially in this town. It's relaxing."

Barbara pulled him into the house, closing the door behind him. Jim set his bag down inside the door and carefully looked around his home. Things were much as he remembered, though he was happy to see that there wasn’t any excess dust or clutter. He had been half afraid that his mom wouldn’t think to straighten the house since he had always done it.

“So it’s just you tonight?” Barbara asked.

“Yep. Toby’s still on Akiridion-5 talking with Eli about his latest movie idea. Blinky and Aaarrrgghh are spending tonight together. And Claire wanted to go on a date with Darci, but it turned into a girl’s night with almost every girl from our class. So it’s just me.”

Jim smiled and held his arms out. Then he glanced over his mom’s shoulder. The Amulet of Daylight immediately flew to his hand and his lips curled back in a snarl. A growl rumbled out of him. Barbara turned to look at what had alarmed him. Morgana! The former Eldritch Queen had just walked out of the kitchen.

“Jim! We talked about this!” Barbara said putting her hand against his chest.

Jim struggled to rein in his emotions. He had known she would be here, it was still a surprise to see her out and about after all the hurt she caused Claire. He breathed in and out a few times and the light of the Amulet faded.

For her part Morgana hesitated in the doorway for the kitchen. She had a tray of cups balanced on her good hand. A welcoming smile was frozen on her face. Her eyes flicked rapidly between Jim and Barbara, for a few seconds before forcing the smile to brighten.

“Welcome home Jim! I thought it would be nice for us all to have some hot cocoa to warm up. Sorry it wasn’t done before you arrived!”

Jim stared at her, then nodded. “Would you mind if I have a word with you, alone?”

“Jim…” Barbara started, but Morgana walked past her, handing off the tray of drinks.

“It’s quite alright dear, I’m sure it will just be a moment.”

Jim opened the door to the garage and ushered her in. He closed the door lightly behind her. Jim noticed she had replaced her former emerald prosthetic with a regular human one. Morgana fiddled restlessly with the long dress she was wearing.

“I’m sorry to hear that young Claire wouldn’t be able to join us tonight.” Morgana said, once the door was closed, trying to force her voice to be cheerful.

“Claire is uncomfortable being in the same state as you, much less under the same roof.” Jim said shortly. He was surprised to see her drop her gaze in guilt.

“I am … sorry to hear that.” Morgana paused. “I know it won’t mean much to her, but I am also sorry for … well everything I did to her.”

Jim arched his eyebrows. Even though his mom felt that Morgana had turned over a new leaf, he was still surprised to hear her apologize. Some of the anger he had walked into the room with cooled. He took a moment to resettle his thoughts.

“I guess this is the shovel talk everyone goes on about so much?” Morgana said before he could say anything.

“Yeah, except my shovel has a bit more weight.” Jim said, holding up his amulet.

Morgana flinched back from the amulet that had been forged from her hand. Jim saw and quickly put the amulet away. He leaned forward and held his horns.

“I just really don’t want my mom to get hurt.” He hadn’t expected the conversation to go this way. He hadn’t expected Morgana to be nervous, or remorseful, or to flinch from his amulet.

“She’s been hurt before by her partners.” Morgana said, it wasn’t a question. His mom must have told Morgana about what she went through.

“Yeah. By my dad and Strickler. And I promised that I would always be there for her. That we would take care of each other. With how much time I’m spending in New Jersey, I know I can’t always be there for her.”

“I know you have every reason to distrust me, but I promise you I have no intention of harming or allowing any harm to come to her.” Morgana paused, she fiddled with the gold bracelets on her wrists. “Even if I could ignore my personal feelings for her, she has done so much for me. Caring for me both before and after my fall from power, arranging for this hand, letting me stay in her home.”

Jim nodded. “I’m willing to put aside our past differences for the sake of my mom. I’ll give you a chance.”

“Thank you, Jim.”

Morgana awkwardly offered her hand, then switched to her non prosthetic hand. Jim moved forward to accept the hand and she moved to offer a hug instead. Finally she settled for patting him on the shoulder. Then she laughed.

“Did you get a version of this talk from Claire’s parents?” She asked.

Jim laughed as well. “Yes. Several times. Once when I trashed her house trying to chase a changeling, once when they found out about Trollhunting, and once again when we got engaged. Honestly the first one was the worst.” He laughed again at the memory. “The scariest was Toby’s Nana. She had actually had a shovel.”

They laughed and returned to the house. Barbara had set out the cups of cocoa on the coffee table. She stood near the couch, unable too nervous to sit down, but relaxed as they both continued laughing. Jim smiled at her to show her the conversation went well.

“Hey mom, I’m going to head upstairs and shower real quick.” Jim said, grabbing his bag from the entrance way.

“Aren’t you going to have your hot chocolate before you do?” Barbara asked.

Jim looked at the cup a little sadly before shaking his head.

“I created the changelings. Do you not think that I could modify your recipe to appeal to trollish tastes?” Morgana asked.

He hesitated for just a moment. Then set his bag down and walked over. He took a small sip and to his surprise the cocoa was delicious! It even tasted like chocolate. Jim hadn’t had something that tasted like chocolate since before his transformation.

Morgana must have seen his obvious delight as a broad smile split her face. She leaned forward and took a big sip of her own and so did Barbara.

"I found one of your cookbooks when I was here recovering." Morgana said. "I love that you wrote your modifications to the recipes in the margins. Your mom always loves the cocoa when I follow you recipe."

Barbara giggled and sat down on the couch. "Is that why it's always so good? Because you're following Jim's recipes?"

Morgana sat down next to her. "Mmhmm. I had to make mine sweeter to match my tastes, but it's clear you've already nailed your mom's tastes down. Why do all the work again?"

Jim drank his down quickly. "I might have to get your recipe for this. It's so good."

"Are you sure you want to know?"

He hesitated, then nodded. "Claire and I agreed, no socks. Other than I'm getting more and more used to troll dietary needs."

"Good to know." Morgana said with a smile.

The smile widened as Jim happily crunched the porcelain of the mug and ate it too. His eyes widened as he realized what he had done. Morgana forestalled the apology that was on his lips with a wave of her hand.

"I gave you one of the chipped mugs we were talking about getting rid of." Morgana said.

Jim smiled at that. He stretched, then stood up.

"I do still need that shower. I swear the gyre tunnels are just filled with grime." He said.

"Of course honey! Take your time. I'll pick out a movie that we can watch together!"

Jim nodded to his mom and hurried up the stairs. The shower was exactly what he needed. He had the water up hot enough that it would have boiled a human. But it was perfect for his troll hide.

Once he was finally clean and relaxed he turned off the water and threw on some clean clothes. He would have to wash his travel clothes before he wore them again. Finally he was ready to head back downstairs.

At the top of the stairs his ears perked up. His mom was laughing loudly in the living room and so was Morgana. Jim was surprised to find out she actually had a pleasant laugh when she wasn't cruelly laughing at the pain she was causing. Jim walked quickly down the stairs to join them.

"Oh there you are! I thought I was going to have to call the city warn them you were going to drain the reservoir!" His mom laughed while she talked.

Jim laughed as well and hurdled the rail skipping the last couple of steps. Then he flung himself down on the couch next to her. Barbara was leaning on Morgana's shoulder her hands entwined with her good hand. Barbara pressed play on the movie and Jim hopped up to dim the lights.

It had been a long time since Jim had a simple movie night with his mom. Morgana's presence seemed to improve Barbara's mood immensely.

Though Jim noticed Morgana didn't seem to be enjoying the movie very much. She kept untangling her hand from Barbara's to adjust her prosthetic. Jim realized the limb was probably much worse than her than her old magic one.

"You can take that off if you want to." Jim said in trollish, when he saw her slip a finger under the cup of the prosthetic again.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable." Morgana replied in trollish.

"I've been around amputees before." The three wars had not been kind to their combatants. Humans, trolls and Akiridions had all suffered from the fighting. Draal, Toby, and Zadra were all amputees.

"While I'm glad you two are talking, it's a little rude to have a conversation I can't take part in." Barbara said with a small huff.

"Oh I'm sorry mom, I was just…" Jim hesitated.

"He was inviting me to make myself more comfortable." Morgana said as she undid the straps holding her prosthetic in place. She set the limb aside. Then she leaned around Barbara to address Jim again. “You speak trollish very well. You are improving quickly.”

Jim laughed. “I have to! Some of the troll tribes spoke English but not most of them. And I can’t rely on the amulet to translate for me.”

“Shh you two.” Barbara said softly She entwined her fingers again with Morgana’s good hand. She was leaning on the other woman’s shoulder more and more as the movie progressed.

The rest of the movie passed without incident. When the credits were scrolling up Jim stood and stretched again. He looked down and noticed his mom had fallen asleep against Morgana during the movie. Morgana looked like she didn't want to move at all.

"I can carry her upstairs if you want." Jim offered in a soft whisper.

When Morgana nodded, he easily picked his mom up, her head resting against his chest. She followed close as he carried her up the stairs. Jim set his mom gently in her bed. Morgana fussed, taking off her glasses and tucking the blankets in around her.

Jim decided to withdraw, he still needed to set up the couch downstairs to sleep on. He paused for a second at the door to his mom’s room. He watched as Morgana gently brushed his mom’s hair away from her face. He had never in his memory seen someone look at his mom that way. It was the same way he looked at Claire, Toby and Aja. They were his everything. And it was obvious, Barbara meant the world to Morgana.

He softly closed the door as Morgana climbed into bed alongside his mom. It was clear his former enemy loved his mom, he didn’t have to worry about Morgana ever letting his mom get hurt. She really truly loved her.

#jim lake jr #Barbara Lake #morgana trollhunters #barbgana #Trollhunters #tales of arcadia #after the eternal night #Hammer sword and staff #writing emerald #reblogs > likes

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madrut16 · 6 years ago

Text

Day 8: Haunted

For Day 8 of the @choicesjulychallenge

Book/Pairing: Bloodbound (Adrian x MC)

Rating: PG-13 (Warning: mentions of abuse)

Summary: After waking up from her nightmare while in Vegas, Isabel is forced to relive the worst night of her life and is forced to reveal what exactly happened with her ex Derek.

@kinda-iconic @endlesshero1122 @desiree-0816 @choicesfannatalie @krishu213 @choices97 @jlpplays1 @riseandshinelittleblossom @brightpinkpeppercorn @ladykateofhousebeaumont @shelley-parah @tabithacarlisle

*If anyone else wants to be tagged in future Bloodbound fics please let me know!*

“A...drian...”

Isabel jolted awake as a muffled scream escaped, and she gasped loudly as her heart hammered in terror as the setting of the Vegas hotel room slowly registered with her. Suddenly, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder and she jumped away instinctively.

“Isabel...it’s me, you’re fine,” Adrian murmured, his eyes roaming all over her trembling form.

Everything was still fresh and she painstakingly began to separate him from the version she had just seen in the nightmare.

She shook her head. “Thank god...it’s not real.”

“Another nightmare?” he questioned, his brows furrowing in concern. She felt herself start to calm down. He wasn't going to hurt her.

She gave him a nod. “You...you were in it...this time. At least, it looked like it was you. I felt...I felt so safe. But, then you...reached out...and...you suddenly...ch-ch...,” she trailed off, unable to bear finishing the sentence. “Oh god, it was horrible!”

“Then what? What did you see me do?” he asked, now becoming worried.

She opened her mouth to answer when a familiar violent flashback began to consume her from just over a year prior. Memories of the one night she wanted to desperately forget.

"No," she whimpered.

She used to have them constantly but this was the first one to hit her since meeting Adrian and becoming his assistant and then more. She had hoped that they had stopped for good, that he had somehow been able to cure them. But she knew the truth, that wasn’t how trauma worked.

Once again she saw the image of Derek standing in front of her while she was pressed up against the wall. It started out as yet another argument, which he usually won with his slick manipulation and fierce temper that could intimidate her like no other. This time, however, she had refused to back down and he met it with icy coldness.

She remembered him seizing her, his short nails digging into her skin enough to draw blood and the slap that came afterward. How much her cheek stung in pain and her eyes watered. That and the violent shaking she was used to putting up with since they had started a few months earlier. Yet that night for some reason it wasn’t acceptable to her anymore. She realized what everyone was trying to tell her for years had been true. She was being abused by him, probably for years at that point.

She then remembered with a sob when Derek grabbed her neck, just like in the dream with Adrian, but that time it was painfully real. She recalled the knife and how tightly it was pressed, first to her collarbone, the red making her start to panic as it seeped out through the blade. Then, when that didn't satisfy him, he moved it to where his hand held her. Isabel could still feel the warmth of the blood trickling down from both wounds that had cut gashes a couple of inches deep. He had just started to make the fatal or near fatal cut when suddenly her army vet neighbor broke into the apartment and saved her.

In mere seconds, she relived all of this and a wave of panic began to flood into her which she was also used to, being a standard accompaniment to the flashbacks.

“Isabel? Talk to me!” Adrian pleaded in bewilderment. He tried to reach for her once more but she quickly backed away from him to the edge of the bed, something she thought she had finally learned not to do. “What did I do?”

“Not...you...him," she tried to choke out before her mind shut off its ability for rational thought. "No! Not...not again!”

Her sobs were deafening as she started to hyperventilate as the invisible walls closed in, threatening to crush her. "Oh God, I can't...I can't breathe!"

The trauma Isabel thought she had under control continued to resurface all at once. She held her now impossibly heavy chest and she gasped for air, curling up in the fetal position as the distinctly familiar feeling of being suffocated rocketed through her.

Adrian looked at her in shock and extreme worry, trying to process everything. He had never seen her so fearful, so helpless. His analytical mind then lingered on her last words while in the dream and suddenly a look of realization hit him like a slap to the face.

“No...I...hurt you?!” The color drained from his face and he looked at his hands and then back at her, his expression darkening. “Shit, no...no! Goddammit!” he growled, his eyes flickering from brown to red. “I thought I was past this!"

Then, he abruptly got up in haste and Isabel vaguely heard the doors to the balcony slam shut. After several more minutes, she started to come down from the panic attack. Eventually, she returned almost back to normal and the pressure lifted, leaving a tired ache in its place.

Still sniffling, she scanned the room and realized that Adrian was gone. Her hand reached for the space he had left, no longer afraid. In fact, she wanted to be as close to him as possible. Confused, she sat there until she let out a gasp, figuring out why he had left so suddenly.

"Oh no. Adrian."

Her eyes flicked to the balcony and she noticed him out there leaning against the balcony and her brows creased with concern at his gloomy expression. Did he really think that it was his fault? She had to remedy that. She hated talking about anything related to Derek, the feelings she got whenever she did were still blisteringly painful. But, she couldn’t deny the truth or prevent the inevitable, his ghost was starting to haunt what she had now. She couldn't put off this conversation any longer.

Putting on her silk nightgown, she made some green tea before walking over. Her eyes widened as she opened the glass door and saw that some of it was cracked and the frame was bent.

Hearing her as she stepped outside into the twilight, Adrian looked over at her cautiously.

She gave him a half-hearted smile as if signaling that she wasn't hostile. “Hey.”

“Isabel.” He swallowed as stopped in the open space next to him. Hesitating, he asked, “Are you alright?”

Letting out a sigh, she gave him a tired smile. “I will be.”

That's the answer she always provided when the question had been asked before. A standard reply. But somehow, when she said it to him, she wished more than ever that the empty phrase would come true.

“I’m sorry," he said abruptly, bringing her out of her head. "I don’t know what has become of me lately.”

Taking a sip of the warm beverage in her hands, she frowned. “What do you mean?”

He looked down at the concrete in shame. “I wish that I could tell you that I would never be capable of what you saw in the dream...but clearly you know that I am.”

“Wait...you mean...what you did to Langdon?”

She knew that ever since he killed him that he felt remorse, but she had no idea that it was this extreme.

He nodded reluctantly. “Vampires...we have a dark side. All of us, including me. And back when I was...loyal to Gaius, I gave into it. Let him nurture it. And I’ve tried for so long to fight it, almost a century now. I thought I finally had this under control,” he looked away from her, his jaw clenching as he stared out towards the horizon. “But I guess not.”

“Adrian...I’m not mad at you for what happened back there. I was...shocked and yes a little frightened for a moment...but not angry. I know that you lost control and that you would give everything to take it back. That you just wanted to protect us. It doesn’t change how I see you.”

“Are you sure of that?” he implored his gaze meeting hers. “You were pretty scared of me just now, in there." He gestured towards the room. "I caused that."

Setting the mug down on the railing, she closed the gap between them. "No, you didn't. I don't know if what happened earlier caused the dream but it was just that...a dream. I know that you would never actually hurt me."

He gave her a dubious expression. "But, you--"

"Adrian, no." She interrupted, let out a sigh. "Believe me, I spent five years with someone who actually did. Almost died because the last time he went a little too far. It's how I got these."

She pulled her hair off of her neck, revealing her two silvery-white scars now clearly visible from the bright lights of the Strip shining on them.

Her words reached him and as he looked at them, his eyes widened in horrified shock. "What? Who?"

"Derek." The name felt like pure poison. "That's why I won't talk about him, I can't. That panic attack after coming out of the nightmare was from me remembering that night. It's not the first time and it certainly won't be the last. It had nothing to do with you."

"I had no idea," Adrian told her. "I'm sorry that happened."

She shrugged. "Yeah, me too. And I hate that I'm still not over it, that after all this time he still has a hold on me."

He gave her an incredulous stare. "Of course he does, it's abuse. That's hard to let go of."

"I know," Isabel replied. "But, it hasn't just brought pain. A lot of good things wouldn't have happened if that hadn't." Meeting his gaze, a tiny smile appeared, like the sun shining through a gloomy sky.

His expression began to brighten as well. "Like what?"

"Well, for starters, I wouldn't have met Lily and now we’re practically inseparable," she answered. "And, I wouldn't have had the courage to turn down a job offer at Mannon and risk not being able to find another one. And I definitely wouldn't have applied to be your assistant. I wouldn't know you."

Her smile widened when she saw that he was finally starting to believe her. "You're sure that you're not afraid of me?"

Isabel responded with a kiss that left them both feeling spellbound. "Does that answer your question?" she quipped, her fiery personality poking through again.

His signature grin graced his features. "Maybe, I might need a little more though, just to be sure."

She rolled her eyes but was more than happy to oblige, relishing in the feeling safe in his arms once more.

#playchoices #choices stories you play #choices july challenge #bloodbound #bloodbound 2 #adrian x mc #adrian x isabel #trigger warning: abuse

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miafic · 6 years ago

Text

hi. i had something loosely planned, but i went with this instead.

(in this case, david is like dah-VEED, not DAY-vid)

-----

Awsten fiddled with the pastel eggs in the grocery bag he was holding as the woman standing in front of him finished giving Jawn directions in Portuguese.

“Okay?” she asked through a thick accent at the end of her speech.

“Sim, senhora,” Jawn responded.

She nodded, and then Awsten and Jawn were on their way.

“What did she say?” Awsten whispered as they walked toward the stairs.

Jawn reported, “She wants all the eggs upstairs in the youth room and none anywhere else. And she said to hide them in plain sight so the kids can actually find them.”

“Okay.”

They jogged up the steps together, the little plastic eggs making gentle clicking sounds as they collided in the bag. When they got to the room, it was silent and still. Jawn flipped the light on.

“This is weird,” Awsten stated. He didn’t realize he’d grown so used to Jon’s blaring hip-hop songs.

“Yeah. I can try to turn music on. Hang on.” He went over to the laptop that was set up in the back corner of the room, but after just a few seconds, he sighed. “It’s password protected.”

“Try ‘password’” Awsten suggested.

“I would, but there’s a username thing, too, and it’s blank.”

“Dammit,” Awsten sighed. He wouldn’t necessarily miss the rap, but anything would have been a nice distraction. Plus, if they’d had internet access, they could have listened to whatever they wanted.

“Hey, did you ever do this?” Jawn wondered as he positioned a light pink egg on the break between two couch cushions.

“What? Hunt Easter eggs?”

“Yeah.”

“No. Did you?”

“Never?” Jawn asked in surprise.

Awsten shook his head. “No. Otto did, and they gave me a couple Easter baskets, which was, like, suuuper nice, but they’d always do the egg hunts at church - like this, I guess - and I never went with them.” Trying to push the focus off of him and his shitty childhood, he repeated, “Did you?”

“Uh, yeah. Couple times. Our ‘community,’” he said, setting a pale blue egg down so he could hold up air quotes instead, “set stuff like that up for us sometimes. I had these neighbors, David and Max. They were brothers, and they would always come bang on the door and go, Vamos, vamos! as loud as they could.” He smiled fondly at the memory. “Drove my mom fucking nuts,” he added, shaking his head, “but they were the main reason I got to do everything. Trick or treating, Christmas parties, barbecues, Easter egg hunts…”

“They sound cool.”

“Yeah.”

Jawn turned away, but Awsten didn’t miss the pained expression on his face.

“You good?” He laid a yellow egg against the wall.

“Yeah,” Jawn replied, although his strained voice told another story.

“What?”

“Just, um.” He shrugged and kept his back to Awsten. “Max, the little brother? He got shot a couple years back.”

“What?” Awsten said again, this time in shock.

“Yeah. It was a drive-by thing. They hit the wrong guy.” Jawn’s jaw tensed. “I was fourteen. He was twelve.”

Awsten stood perfectly still as he processed the information.

“It’s fine. It was a while ago.”

“I’m - I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he repeated. “It’s not like I was there or anything.”

“Still. I’m really sorry, Jawn. That’s fucking awful.”

Jawn rubbed his arm over his eyes. “It’s fine,” he said for the third time. “Everything was… different after that, though.”

Awsten nodded even though he didn’t understand at all.

“Kind of the beginning of the end, I guess.”

Awsten hesitated but then asked, “What, um… like, what do you mean?”

Jawn sniffed quietly and sat down on the closest couch. Awsten set his bag down, went over to him, and filled the space beside him. Jawn’s eyes were pink, but Awsten didn’t comment.

“After Max died and David and his parents kind of went off the rails, these two guys c-”

“Hey!” came Zakk’s voice. “Oh - are you guys okay?”

“Yeah,” Awsten replied as easily as he could. He put on a smile. “Just strategizing. Trying to see the room from their height.”

“Smart,” Zakk nodded, but Awsten could see him scanning Jawn’s body language. “Okay, well, we’ve only got five minutes til they’re coming up here, so strategize quick.”

“Kay.”

“Do you want help?” he offered.

“No, that’s okay.”

“You got it?”

“Yep.”

“Alright. We’re all still downstairs if you need us.” He gave Awsten a smile and then asked, “Jawn, are you okay, man?”

“Yep,” came Jawn’s clipped reply.

“Okay. Thanks again for doing this, guys.”

“No problem,” Awsten chirped.

Zakk gave him a grateful smile. “Like I said - we’re downstairs. Just come down when you’re done so we know the room’s ready.”

Awsten nodded.

Zakk left, and Awsten looked at Jawn again, but he was standing up and smearing his hand underneath his eyes, going to stuff eggs wherever he could.

Awsten didn’t press him.

-----

A few minutes later, there were fifteen kids buzzing excitedly in the hallway. Their Sunday school teacher gave them the okay to go in, and the scene was even more chaotic than Awsten had expected.

The best part was that right in the middle of the pack was Travis, who was wearing a headband with floppy rabbit ears and smiling widely as he made a beeline for the first egg he saw.

One of the little kids got it first and dropped it into their tiny basket, and Travis’ face fell, but he quickly spotted another one and ran directly to it, picking it up and shaking it excitedly. He shoved it into the basket and went on his way.

“Thank you gentlemen for volunteering to hide the eggs,” Lucas said, coming up behind Awsten and Jawn as they watched the kids joyfully run about the room.

“You’re welcome,” Jawn replied.

Awsten chuckled as Travis found another egg and cried, “It’s pink!” He looked over at Awsten excitedly and waved, and Awsten waved back and then gave him a thumbs up.

Travis beamed.

-----

Ham for dinner.

Yuck.

But everyone else was excited, so Awsten didn’t complain. Plus, he got to make mashed potatoes, which was a good stress reliever. No - coping skill. That phrase had been drilled into his head over the previous few months. Smashing up the potatoes was a great coping skill.

“Jawn, you’re up first tonight,” Zakk said a few minutes into dinner.

“My high was eating this,” Jawn commented quietly, not looking up from his plate, “and my low was setting up for the egg hunt.”

Awsten pursed his lips.

“Why?” Lucas asked curiously.

Jawn just shrugged.

Awsten watched as Lucas and Zakk traded an unreadable glance.

“Okay. Is that all you want to say?” Lucas inquired.

“Yeah.”

“Can I go next?” Awsten piped up.

“Sure,” Lucas replied, seeming a little surprised at the uncharacteristic question.

“My high was setting up for the egg hunt and watching Travis do a great job finding all those Easter eggs, and my low was, um… finding out we were having ham for dinner.”

Zakk’s eyes narrowed in concentration as he glanced between Jawn and Awsten. Lucas just looked confused.

“I did good!” Travis announced.

“Yeah, dude, you did great,” Zakk agreed, shifting his attention to Travis. “You got all those pink eggs, didn’t you?”

“Uh-huh!”

“And you looked cool doing it,” Zakk added.

Travis grinned. “Thank you!”

Lucas was still stuck on what had gone on between Jawn and Awsten, but Awsten just looked at him and gave him a tiny smile.

-----

At bedtime, Awsten came back in from brushing his teeth to find Lucas sitting on Jawn’s bed with a concerned expression on his face.

“-how to help a little better now, so thank you for telling me.”

Jawn nodded and sniffed hard, wiping at his cheeks. His head was bowed, but even from the strange angle, Awsten could tell that he was crying.

Lucas froze when he noticed Awsten, but Jawn just glanced at him and went back to quietly crying.

“Do you think he’s in Heaven?” Jawn asked anxiously, and Awsten went and sat on his own bed, where he picked up Twilight, which he’d been forced back into. He thumbed through it, pretending to be focusing very hard on finding his page.

“He came to church every Sunday,” Jawn promised, looking up at Lucas, desperate for his answer. “He prayed the rosary every day. I know he did. I know.”

“Jawn-”

“He was always nice. He was a good guy. And he was only in sixth grade-” Jawn’s voice broke, and he let out a sob.

Lucas leaned forward and set his hand on Jawn’s shoulder. “Shh,” he murmured. “I’m sure he is.”

“But you said-”

“I’m sure he is.”

Awsten frowned down at his book. This whole situation sucked, and Awsten felt genuinely bad for Jawn.

“Do you want to pray for him?” Lucas suggested softly, and Jawn nodded. “Okay. Here.”

“Awsten, you, too,” Jawn said.

Awsten looked over, his eyes wide.

Jawn was looking right at him, face covered in tears.

How the hell was Awsten supposed to say no to that? He got up, Twilight forgotten on his thin quilt, and went to sit beside Jawn and Lucas. Tentatively, he slipped an arm behind Jawn’s back, and neither Jawn nor Lucas stopped him.

They bowed their heads, and, in a whisper, Lucas began to pray.

#jawn #awsten #lucas #extras #hcs

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tcswritings · 5 years ago

Text

Fate and fortune.

When Mick can’t get Mina, the fortune teller, out of his head the day after he met her, he decides to get a little support from a friend.

***

“I still can’t believe I’m up at this time on a Sunday.” Daryl groaned as he and Mick slendered past the colourful booths and trailers, breathing in the smell of roasted almonds and cotton candy. “Have you ever heard of ‘sleeping in’, man?”

“Aye, but you were so pissed ‘cause you couldn’t come yesterday, so I thought you might wanna join me today.” Mick replied cheerfully as the two now made their way through a little crowd of excited children, careful to not step on any little feet.

“Yesterday was Saturday!” Daryl moaned. “I would’ve hit up some beer cart, get pissed and have a great time, knowing I wouldn’t have to be at work the next day.”

“You have a serious problem, man. Try and enjoy yerself for once without a drop of booze or whatever-the-fuck-you’re-on-at-the-time some day, aye?”

“Yeah, maybe just stick your holier-than-though attitude up your arse, ‘cause if I remember correctly, you were pretty into whatever-the-fuck-I’m-on when-”

“Not the point.” Mick smiled lazily.

“My life is hard, Mick.” Daryl sighed dramatically. “Damn kids at university make me realise that I’m gettin’ old.”

“Yer twenty-six, hardly older than all of them. And I’m takin’ a wild guess here, maybe, but I think it’s yer hangover that makes you feel old right now.”

“It’s not a hangover!” Daryl sounded appalled. “I was at work yesterday, mind you. Only had a few beers with colleagues afterwards. You just don’t understand what it feels like not to be healthy and in shape like you are.”

“You’re cranky. Stop that, it ruins my mood.” Mick smiled to himself, his friend’s whining amused him greatly.

“It’s Sunday morning, what else could I be but cranky?” Daryl moaned as he looked around the place. “Where are we heading at, anyway?”

“Ah, nowhere. Just lookin’ around, y’know.” Mick shrugged and put his hands into his pockets.

“Nah, you’re not, you’re looking for something.”

“What makes ya think so?”

“You’re not even really looking at anything? You seem awfully determined.” Daryl nagged.

“Okay, I’m lookin’ for somethin’ then. Better said, someone. Here, wait.” Mick stopped right next to a little coffee cart and reached into the pocket of his jeans for his wallet. He opened it and pulled out a piece of pale pink paper, handing it to Daryl who unfolded it, read it and drew his eyebrows together.

“What’s this? Who’s Mina?”

“A fortune teller at this fair.” Mick replied a little absent-mindedly, as his eyes now wandered around the fairground.

“That raises a lot more questions than it answers, man.”

“What? Oh, yeah.” Mick snatched the note out of Daryl’s fingers again. “Declan had a funny moment yesterday and he dragged me into this fortune teller’s trailer.”

“What the hell?” Daryl raised an eyebrow. Declan wasn’t exactly known for believing in the fine arts of divination.

“Aye, that’s what I thought. Anyway, kinda expected some wrinkled old eerie hag inside, yanno, but she was young and cute. We talked, she told me some really weird things about myself and when we went back out, I found that paper in my pocket.”

“You wooed a fortune teller? Okay, that’s kind of cool? What weird things did she tell you about yourself that you didn’t know yet?��

“I’ll be damned if I know, didn‘t get half of it, to be honest, but the note says she wants to see me again and-”

“Wait. Are you saying that you’re taking me on a DATE with you?!” Daryl’s eyes went wide. “Mick, what the fuck?”

"It’s not a date!?”

“Oh god, do I really have to tell you how fucked up that is?!”

Mick rolled his eyes at his friend. “It’s not a date!”

“I wanna go back to bed!”

“It’s not a date, Daryl, just hear me out!”

“Do you need a chaperon for your first date? What the hell, why-”

“It’s not. a. date! ” Mick repeated impatiently. “I mean, there might be one, maybe but-”

“But you thought you’d take me first and... well, do what exactly?!”

“Do nothing. This is not a date and you’re not supposed to be a chaperon.”

“So you’re just taking me to randomly look at some hot woman or what?”

“You don’t even know what she looks like?”

“Oh c’mon, I know she’s hot. You always get the hot ones.” Daryl shrugged and crossed his arms, looking up and shooting his friend a challenging look.

“I didn’t get anyone. That's not what this is about.”

“Is it that you saw her in twilight yesterday and now you wanna make sure she’s also hot during daylight before you ask her out?”

“What, Daryl-”

“ And when she’s not, you’re gonna introduce her to me?”

Squinting in disgust and also lost for words a little, Mick looked down at his friend. “You. are. sick."

“No, you. are. weird. Bringing me along to your dates now - yeah, yeah I know, it’s not a date. Just tell me already what I’m doing here, Michael!”

“Okay, alright!” Mick rolled his eyes. “Well, uhm. That’s a bit- well. Okay, I promise that it ain’t gonna be weird or so, just come an’ look at her for a bit, maybe?”

“Why?” Daryl shrugged. “You want a stamp of approval? I’m sure she’s smart and beautiful, they all are.”

“Exactly!”

At this point, Daryl was completely lost. “Okay, now you’re no longer making sense. Not that you ever do but-”

“That’s exactly the point, man! A smart and beautiful woman slips me a note, askin’ to see me again.”

“So...?”

“I can’t handle that. Y’ know my dating history is fucked up. It’s too much. I shut down, I need help.”

“Oh wow, so... basics, eh? Alright, when a girl and a boy like each other, they sometimes-”

“Daryl.” Mick sighed, closing his eyes in exasperation.

“Oh my god, sorry, I just can’t believe that you’re being so... I mean, are you trying to tell me that you’re...”

“Am what?”

“You’re insecure?! About a situation that’s so plain simple?”

“Hell yeah, of course I’m fuckin’ insecure!?”

“I don’t believe it.” Daryl let out a baffled laugh. “Elvenlike, six-foot-five pretty boy Mick O’Loughlin is insecure.”

“This ain’t about looks, man. It’s about...well, this.” Mick wiggled the note between his fingers. “When do things like that ever happen, eh? They certainly don’t happen to me? You know that. It’s a spoof, it must be. She’s a stunner and she was nice. What would she want with me? Huh? Maybe she was just takin’ a piss outta me yesterday!”

Daryl shot his friend a confused look. “Why would she? I mean, what reason could she even have?”

“I dunno! That’s the point, I don’t get women! Just come with me for five minutes, say hi and later tell me if ya think she looked genuinely interested or not. Can’t risk and judge the situation all by myself. I’m stupid. Ya know I’m stupid!”

“Well? You’re kinda giving off some really pathetic teenager vibes right now, I’ll give you that?”

“Aye, I know! How could I not? I can’t see any reason why any gal would do such a thing with me, okay?”

“Mick, what the fuck, that’s- that’s so sad, man.” Daryl sighed. “Maybe just think about it for a bit. She managed to slip a note into the pocket of your jeans without you noticing. That takes guts and some effort. Of course she’s interested!”

“Ya think?”

“Yeah! Besides, it’s usually you who’s good at reading body language. What’s wrong, are you broken or something?

“Somethin’ like that, aye?”

Mick let out a heavy breath, his eyes still wide in panic and Daryl realised that his friend was genuinely freaking out. There was a little pause and that’s when he understood.

To say he was truly broken was probably quite an overstatement but after all that happened to him in regards to dating matters, it was probably just a logical consequence that Mick felt as anxious as he did. Daryl still didn’t quite get behind the self-doubts but if it made his friend feel better, he would do him the favour, that was out of question.

“You like her, then?” he eventually asked.

“I dun’ know her but I liked the way she talked to me? Little weird, sure, but sweet. And she read my palm and what she read wasn’t all to bad, apparently, ‘cause she didn’t throw me outta her house. Uh, trailer, I mean, I dunno if she actually lives in that thing?”

“Makes sense.” Daryl nodded, suppressing a laugh. “Just one more thing. Taking me on this expedition and not, let’s say, Orla or someone who actually knows something about women... you’re desperate, huh?”

“Orla is busy with that weirdo Pete, Jessie is spending the weekend with Ann and I’m kinda fuckin’ desperate, aye.”

“I’m the last resort.” Daryl closed his eyes and put his hand over his heart. “I’m swooning with friendship feelings.”

“Nah, I’d still prefer ya over Declan in those matters, if that’s any consolation?”

“Yeah, he’s the worst, I gotta give myself that credit.”

“And hey, I don’t plan to go on any date today so we can later see him and Ash in the hospital and maybe hit up Rosamund’s afterwards.”

“Now we’re talking.” Daryl nodded again and gave Mick a pat on his shoulder. “Okay, I’m in. Let’s go and look at your lady and pretend we’re just passing by.”

Mick closed his eyes and let out a relieved sigh, putting his hands together and bowing slightly. “Thanks.”

“Hey, if you blow this again, can I have her?”

“Not funny.”

“Too soon? Sorry. C’mon, let’s find her.”

***

Mina Malone sat in her rocking chair on the little front porch of her mother’s old trailer. It had just started raining, just a little, but the large and colourful parasol that was fitted to the porch’s railing served her as reliable rain protection and the slight breeze made the little windbells over the trailer’s entrance door chime and the lovely sound of it as well as the soothing bickering of the raindrops made Mina feel very content and peaceful. She had always liked the rain and it’s sound, and she could never quite comprehend why most people avoided going outside on a rainy day while it could be so refreshing.

Of all seasons, Mina had always loved autumn most and there was a chance that her favourite time of the year could even get a little more exciting this year than she had anticipated so far. Her mind wandered back to the handsome stranger who had visited her trailer yesterday, together with his friend. Smiling to herself, she turned the page of the magazine she was reading, wondering if he had already found her note. He must have; she had made sure to slip it into the pocket where he kept his cigarettes. (Unless he had made the decision to quit smoking the moment he left, but Mina highly doubted it.)

While his friend seemed to be of the loud and attention-seeking kind, the young man she had laid her eyes on striked her as unassuming, quiet and thoughtful, despite his impressive stature. He was very tall and lean and he had an unusual, handsome face and the colour of his eyes was out of this world. She wondered whether he was aware of his charisma. Probably not; he seemed generally confused when she addressed him; as if he was used to people going for his outspoken friend first, which she couldn’t comprehend at all. Not to say that the friend left a bad impression but it was certainly not him who had drawn her right in.

A man’s husky voice interrupted Mina’s thoughts.

“Excuse me? Miss? Are you the hot fortune teller?”

“Daryl, what the fuck?” another man’s voice hissed. A slightly deeper, fuller voice which startled her - she had heard the voice and the accent not too long ago.

Frowning, Mina looked up from her magazine and turned her head. She spotted two tall figures standing several metres away from her trailer, huddling together under a black umbrella and expectantly looking up at her. One of the two had an unruly mane of bright red hair and he was all clad in black and when she eventually recognised the other man, her heart skipped a beat.

It was him. Her green-eyed stranger from yesterday.

Thank you, fate, I owe you big time!

Trying to hide her excitement, Mina put her magazine away and stood up from her chair. When she leaned on the porch’s reiling, she smiled down at the two. “Who wants to know?”

“I do! Oh, and I brought back your boyfriend!” the redhead pointed to his friend, who closed his eyes in what seemed to be embarrassment.

“Oh my god.” he groaned and Mina had to swallow down a laugh.

He looked just as adorable as she remembered him.

“Well, I am a fortune teller!” she eventually said. “Not sure about the ‘hot’, though.”

“Well, I was brought here to confirm that you are.” the redhead nodded, and he held up his hand, his thumb and index finger forming an ‘O’ which earned him a firm slap to the back of his head from his friend.

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ.” Handsome Stranger hissed.

“Ow, what? Isn’t that why you brought me here in first place-”

“You were supposed to look, not fuckin’ talk!”

“I always talk, what exactly made you think this would be an exception?”

Mina crossed her arms in amusement as she watched the two guys banter for a while until she decided to chime in again. She leaned forward on the reiling.

“Can I help you two with something, maybe?” she beamed. “Some palm reading? Tarot cards? Meditation? I’m not so good with crystal balls, but they’re not reliable anyway. Too foggy.”

The ginger man laughed at the remark but Handsome Stranger still seemed reluctant.

“I dunno, I just kinda-” He paused, apparently at a loss of how to go on.

“You just kinda came by to say hello?” Mina suggested with a warm, inviting smile, leaning a little further over the reiling.

He smiled back. “Aye, I guess?”

“You could’ve called? I left you my number. In a really old-school manner that I’m very proud of, by the way.”

“Aye, I know. It’s just that...” Handsome Stranger bit his lip and looked over to his friend, then back up at her. “Uhm. Don’t- please don‘t make me explain that.”

How cute can someone even be? “Don’t worry, I won’t. I’m happy you’re here! You two want a drink? I just made some tea!”

“Actually,” the redhead said, “I still have a few things to do.” He turned to his friend. “How about I go and see Declan and we meet in the bar later this evening?”

“I dunno, I said I would join you-”

“Mick, I am being your best friend in the world right now. Don’t be stupid.” The ginger friend smiled and reached up to give her stranger - Mick - an encouraging pat on the back. “Later then! ‘t was a pleasure, Miss Mina!” he called up at her before he snatched the umbrella out of Mick’s hand, waved the two goodbye and took off.

Mina and Mick looked after him for a few moments and when he eventually turned around again, Mick let out an apologetic sigh.

“I’m sorry, he’s a bit of a, uh... a bit of a weirdo.”

“He seems kind of eccentric, yeah?” Mina laughed and nodded. “I like that.”

“Well, good for me, I guess?”

“So. Mick. That’s really your name?”

“Michael, actually. Everyone calls me Mick, though. Please- please do. Any time someone calls me Michael, it feels like my mother calls me out for some shit I did.”

Mina let out a hearty laugh. “Okay? It’s cute, I like it. So, you wanna stay down there and get soaked or do you wanna come up and keep me company?”

“That depends.” Mick bit his lip as he eventually approached the porch and casually put his arms up on the reiling. “Uhm. Seems like you got cozy on yer porch but, I dunno, would y’ join me out there? At the fair, I mean?” He pointed back into the direction he came from.

“So, you don’t wanna talk to me?”

“Nah, yeah, I do, it’s just that I’m much better at these things when I don’t have to sit still and focus.” Seeing Mina’s slightly confused expression, he quickly added: “Okay, well, uh, that came out wrong, it’s not that I don’t wanna listen to you, it’s, uh, well...” He eventually let out a little sigh. “Okay, let’s just say I’m eccentric, too.”

“Funny, I had a feeling right away.” Mina replied with a little smirk. “Well, I think I can close the trailer for an hour or so? It’s almost lunch after all and it doesn’t take a whole lot to foretell that I’m gonna be hungry soon... alright, I’d love to join you for a little stroll!”

“You have an umbrella?”

“Won’t need one.”

“But it’s raining and Daryl - I mean, my weird friend - just took mine.”

“It’ll stop in a bit, I’m sure. And I have a hood, see?” Mina turned her back at Mick for a moment, showing off her purple hoodie.

“Well, that should do it.” he smiled, secretly admiring her shape. “You come down here?”

“Of course.”

Mick held out his hand to her. Being smitten with his little gesture of chivalry, she placed hers in it and lightly hopped down the few stairs.

“Take me away, stranger!”

***

The Dirty Deed was about half full at six thirty in the evening. Busy murmur as well as the cheerful clinking of glasses filled the air and Daryl had been half-listening to his fast-rambling friend for a good while now. Orla was pouring her heart out to him about her current... he couldn’t quite remember as what exactly she referred to him, probably ‘boyfriend’, but he couldn’t be sure. It was hardly a real conversation anyway, Orla did most of the talking, while he just nodded and “Hmm!”ed in the what he hoped to be right moments and while Daryl usually enjoyed Orla’s views on men and, above all, her insight into the female mind a lot, his mind just kept drifting off today.

“... and well, I guess Peter and I are kind of official now?”

“Hmm.” Daryl nodded.

“I mean, I dunno. Would you say we are?!”

“What? Uhm, isn’t that something you’re supposed to know?”

“Yeah, sure, it’s just-“ Orla stopped and made a face when Daryl picked up his phone for the umpteenth time today and she had to admit that she was a little irritated by his lack of attention by now.

“Why are you checking your phone every five minutes?” Orla nudged Daryl’s side, trying to get a glimpse at his phone’s screen.

“Waiting for a message.” Daryl replied, holding the phone out of Orla’s reach as she tried to snatch it away.

“Yeah, d’uh, I figured? A message from whom?”

“Mick.”

“Why are you wating for a message from Mick?”

Daryl looked over to Orla now. “Why are you asking stupid questions? he’s my friend, he’s allowed to message me?”

“Yeah, I know, I’m friends with him, too, but I’m not waiting for him to randomly message me on a Sunday while I’m talking about stuff to another friend?!”

“Who said it’s random? I just wanna know how his date went, that’s all.”

“What? What date?” Orla frowned.

“Did someone say date? Who’s on a date?” Rosamund called as she hurried over from the other side of the bar, where she had just handed a few other guests their drinks. She leaned on the counter, very eager to absorb every bit of gossip from her favourite young guests.

“Holy shit, her hearing ability is insane.” Daryl muttered but Orla wasn’t going to drop the subject.

“No one’s on a date?” she said to Rosamund. “I mean, I’d know if Mick was dating, wouldn’t I?”

“Not if he only met her yesterday, after you took off!”

“Mick is dating?” Rosamund exclaimed cheerfully, clapping her hands in excitement.

“He’s not dating!” Orla insisted. “He’d tell me first!”

“Yeah well, maybe he didn’t want to disturb you while you were busy fucking Pizza Pete last night.”

“Daryl, that’s-”

“Oh my god. I need to know everything!” Rosamund blatantly interrupted Orla. “Who is she? How did they meet? Was it love at first sight? Oh wait, you guys have been to the fair yesterday, right? He didn’t even tell me that he met someone while he was here last night!”

“Because he hasn’t!” Orla interfered firmly but Rosamund didn’t pay attention to her.

“Oh my god, did they just bump into each other in front of a balloon cart? Did their eyes meet? Oh damn, it would take a really tall girl to meet Mick’s eyes just like that. Is she tall?”

Daryl made a face at the barkeeper. “You seem particularly interested in Mick’s love life. No offense, Rose, but that’s extremely weird.”

“Ah, no, come on, lad, you’re weird.” Rosamund snapped. “All I’m sayin’ is that he deserves being happy for once. Don’t you think? He’s too precious to die alone.”

“Like he can’t be happy on his own!?” Orla grumbled. “Alright, enough of this nonsense. Daryl, once and for all, if Mick was really dating, I’d be the first to know! He’s my best friend, mind you.”

“And I’m telling you that, for once, I happen to know more than you do!” Daryl grinned at his friend, speaking slowly, savouring every moment of the - admittedly - rather unusual circumstance.

Just when Orla tried to come up with a clever comeback, Daryl’s phone buzzed. All three simultaneously turned their heads and stared at the device on the counter. Daryl picked the phone up and unlocked it and when he saw that the two women were still curiously staring at him, he frowned.

“Some privacy, please?!” He turned around on his bar stool, away from Orla and Rosamund. “You two are worse than my mother, Jesus Christ.” he muttered, only to let out a pretty un-daryl-esque squeal of joy in the next moment. “Hah! It’s him. He’ll be here in a minute. Ask him yourself when he gets here, I already said too much anyway.”

“Yeah, and once he gets here, we’ll all see that you’ve been trying to wind us up with this whole ‘Mick is dating’ crap.” Orla snorted, picking up her empty glass and holding it out to the barkeeper.

Rosamund took the glass and dug out the bottle of ginger ale from under the bar.

“Orla dear,” she began as she poured her guest a new drink, “you’re not suggesting that our boy can’t find himself a lady, eh? ‘Cause that would be kinda cruel, considering that the two of you are oh-so-best friends and supposed to see the best in each other?”

“Ah, come on, that’s not what I meant?” Orla replied. “It’s just... I know he doesn’t open up just like that. Not right after he met someone. It took Leila weeks to win him over!”

“Yeah, that was because Leila is Leila.” Daryl said. “You know better, Orla, and you know it just takes the right person sometimes and, I dunno, correct me if I’m wrong but I’m kinda getting a feeling here that you merely... well, how am I supposed to say this - “ he made a dramatic pause, “- hate the thought that he might open up to a lady who is not you?”

Rosamund snorted as she handed Orla back her freshly filled glass.

“Whoa, that’s bullshit?” Orla snapped back and also shot the barkeeper an offended look. “If he found someone like that, well... I’d be happy for him, of course!”

“Well, here’s your chance to tell him just that!” Daryl said as he stretched a little to look over Orla’s head through the hallway to the pub’s entrance. He waved over to Mick who had just stepped inside, shaking off the rain and taking off his jacket, hanging it up on one of the little hooks in the hallway.

“Fuckin’ rain, man.” Mick grumbled as he hurried inside, leaning over the counter to Rosamund who greeted him with a kiss to his cheek that he returned.

“Ugh, you’re soaked.” the barkeeper shuddered but eventually smiled warmly at him. “Why, hello handsome. The usual?”

“Nah, I’ll have a coke.” Mick answered as he also gave his friends some heartfelt hugs and he took the seat on the right next to Daryl.

“Sorry I took your umbrella earlier.” Daryl said sheepishly as he looked at Mick whose hair was really dripping wet.

“Aye, that was a bit of an arsehole move.” Mick nodded and he thanked Rosamund as she handed him his drink, raising the glass and taking a large sip. The glass still at his mouth, he looked around and noticed that the three of them were staring at him expectantly for some weird reason. He frowned and lowered his glass a little.

“Why are y'all lookin’ at me like that?”

“Nothing? Drink up, laddie.” Rosamund said.

“Yeah, it’s nothing!” Orla shook her head, trying to sound as casual as possible. “Just happy to see you.”

“Ugh, no, come on.” Mick groaned, rolling his eyes at Daryl. “You told them.”

“I, uh, kind of did, yeah.”

“Why would you do that?!”

“They made me do it!” Daryl shrugged, and both Rosamund and Orla gasped.

“OY, don’t blame this on us, y’ nasty little fucker?!” Rosamund protested.

“Yeah, you could’ve thought of an excuse when I asked you what you were doing with your phone earlier? Instead you just-” She paused, looking like she just got hit by a truck. “Wait. Does that mean- wait, so you actually met someone?” she asked Mick.

“Can we not talk about this right now?” Mick groaned, lighting himself a cigarette. “I just got here, lemme have my drink in peace.”

“Please tell me you two screwed your brains out, ‘cause she totally looked like she was up for that!” Daryl said.

“What is wrong with you?!” Mick shot back, sounding exhausted and looking like he was battling a giant headache. Daryl could have that effect on people at times.

“It’s why I left you guys alone, man, she was looking at you like she was ready to-”

“Please, for fuck’s sake. leave me alone. All of you.”

There was silence for a few moments and, surprisingly, it was Mick himself who broke it again.

“Okay. Y’all listen. Aye, I met someone. Yesterday. No, we did not screw our brains out and yes, I’m gonna meet ‘er again. On Tuesday, to be exact. She seems really great and I don’t wanna blow it before it even started and that’s all I have t' say for now.”

Rosamund clapped her hands again, looking more than statisfied. “That’s some good news, laddie. I’ll drink to that later. Oi, I can’t wait to tell Elias-”

“Nah, yer not gonna tell anyone, especially not Father Moore. Any time I date, or try to date someone, happens seldom anyway, he always looks at me like I’m gonna pull a Declan and get meself some illegitimate hellspawn, just because it’s cool.” Mick paused and bit his lip again. “... and that sounded really horrible, y’know, given the circumstances. Dammit.”

“It’s alright, lad. We know you didn’t mean it like that.” Rosamund assured him. “The wee one will be back on his lil’ feet in no time, we all know it.” she insisted, her voice firm, as she poured all three of them as well as herself new drinks. “Hey, you’re awfully quiet, dear!” she eventually said to Orla.

“Huh? Oh. Yeah, I just... sorry, I was lost in thoughts.” Orla smiled and raised her glass. “To Ash, eh?”

“To Ash.” the other three nodded in agreement, clinking their glasses together.

There was another moment of silence until Rosamund decided to approach the lighter subject again.

“Alright, just one more thing!” she looked back at Mick who already prepped himself up to utter some more heartfelt protest. “No, don’t roll your eyes at me, this is important. Did you at least kiss her, laddie? ‘Cause, if you ask me, that’s a must in the early stage of dating. You can’t date someone without knowing if you click in that area?!”

Caught off guard by the question, Mick let out a surprised laugh. When Rosamund and also Daryl kept looking at him expectantly, he merely gave a little shrug and smiled down into his glass.

(... to be edited/polished/continued! Just had to get this off my chest now ‘cause I was in a mood. :3)

#mick #mina #daryl #orla #rosamund

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imjustthemechanic · 6 years ago

Photo

Natalie Jones and the Golden Ship

Part 1/? - A Meeting at the Palace Part 2/? - Curry Talk Part 3/? - Princess Sitamun Part 4/? - Not At Rest Part 5/? - Dead Men Tell no Tales Part 6/? - Sitamun Rises Again Part 7/? - The Curse of Madame Desrosiers Part 8/? - Sabotage at Guedelon Part 9/? - A Miracle Part 10/? - Desrosiers’ Elixir Part 11/? - Athens in October Part 12/? - The Man in Black Part 13/? - Mr. Neustadt Part 14/? - The Other Side of the Story Part 15/? - A Favour Part 16/? - A Knock on the Window Part 17/? - Sir Stephen and Buckeye Part 18/? - Books of Alchemy Part 19/? - The Answers Part 20/? - A Gift Left Behind Part 21/? - Santorini Part 22/? - What the Doves Found Part 23/? - A Thief in the Night Part 24/? - Healing Part 25/? - Newton’s Code Part 26/? - Montenegro Part 27/? - The Lost Relic Part 28/? - The Homunculinus Part 29/? - The End is Near Part 30/? - The Face of Evil Part 31/? - The Morning After Part 32/? - Next Stop Part 33/? - A Sighting in Messina Part 34/? - Taormina Part 35/? - Burning Part 36/? - Recovery Part 37/? - Pilgrimage to Vesuvius Part 38/? - The Scent of Hell Part 39/? - She’ll be Coming Down the Mountain Part 40/? - Stowaways Part 41/? - Bon Voyage Part 42/? - Turnabout Part 43/? - The Apple Part 44/? - Vesuvius Wakes Part 45/? - Fire At Sea Part 46/? - The Real Jim Part 47/? - Return to Naples Part 48/? - La Mela Part 49/? - A Demonstration Part 50/? - Out of the Frying Pan Part 51/? - Into the Fire Part 52/? - The Last Homunculus Part 53/? - Transmission Part 54/? - Metamorphosis Part 55/? - Jones and the Cat Part 56/? - Love and Loss

It’s all over but the angry lecture from Fury.

Nobody’s phone was showing the time anymore – those that hadn’t been destroyed by water were out of batteries. Natasha therefore had no idea how long they spent bobbing in the Bay of Naples, watching random objects float around and waiting for some sign of Jim. At one point Allen reached out and tried to pick up one of the golden bubbles, but it was microscopically thin and collapsed under his touch. The shreds of gold leaf floated on the surface.

The sun rose, glittering on the water and making it look like the entire gulf had turned to gold, all the way out to the horizon. After some time had passed, another boat did appear – a large white one with a diagonal red stripe painted on the prow ahead of the words Guardia Costiera. It came alongside their little fishing boat and a number of startled sailors looked down Sir Stephen, Nat, Perenelle, Allen, and their collection of rescued animals.

“When I was a boy,” one remarked in Italian, “we sometimes had our movies in the theatres before the Americans did. Now look, it’s been how many years and we’re finally getting around to making an Italian Life of Pi!”

The captain of the vessel was not amused. “Have you seen any other survivors?” he asked them in English.

Natasha looked at Sir Stephen, and saw him look away. Both of them were going to have to admit it. In this case, it was Sir Stephen who did the honours, for which Nat was grateful.

“No,” he said. “No, we are the only ones.”

Back on shore, people from some animal control agency took charge of the Contessa’s pets, including the parrot, which had been keeping company with Sam’s pet falcon. The inhabitants of Naples began to drift back into the city, but there was no electricity – many of the cables and the transformers at the power station had turned to gold, and were either unsuitable or unsafe for use. Perenelle told the group she knew a place they could stay, and took them south along the Amalfi coast to Sorrento.

On the drive there, Nat caught Clint looking at his phone again.

“Well?” she asked.

“Limoncello,” he said. “What’s that?”

“It’s a liqueur,” Natasha replied.

She was dissociating, she realized. Natasha had enough knowledge of psychology, particularly as it related to physical and emotional trauma, to recognize the symptoms. She felt as if she were floating out of her body above the bus and yet able to see through the roof of it, watching herself talk to her companions. The medical term was ‘acute stress reaction’. Interesting. Nat wouldn’t have thought she was capable of that anymore.

They reached Sorrento, and Perenelle brought them to her friend’s house – a lovely villa overlooking the bay, owned by a middle-aged man in a droopy mustache whom she addressed as Enrico. Natasha was positive that wasn’t his real name and could probably have figured out who he was if she’d wanted to, but she didn’t care enough. As the sun finally set on what must have been the longest day of her life, she was standing on a balcony looking down on a garden full of yellow cinquefoils, her mind empty.

“Natalie?”

She didn’t jump, because she’d known Allen was there – nobody could sneak up on Natasha Romanov. She’d sort of hoped he would leave her alone, though. What was she supposed to say to him?

“You want to talk about it?” he asked.

“No,” said Nat.

But he came up and put an arm around her anyway. She stiffened, then sagged, putting her face in her hands on the balcony.

“It’s so stupid,” she said. “I wasn’t in love with him. I barely knew him. He barely knew himself.” Nat wasn’t supposed to be subject to those kinds of silly emotions. Love was for children. You are made of marble, her trainers had said. Marble didn’t feel, any more than gold did.

“No, but you were attached to him,” said Allen gently.

“This is why they wouldn’t let us get attached to people,” Nat said miserably. “Because then we’d be upset if they left. Or if we had to kill them ourselves. They trained that out of us from when we were kids. They’d put two of us out on the tundra and only one was allowed to come back. Whichever was the stronger.” She was losing it. Going soft, weakening. She’d lived with normal people too long.

“That’s not what you want to be, Ginger Snap,” said Allen, patting her shoulder. “Trust me on that.”

That should have been a statement of the obvious, but instead it stopped Natasha cold. He was right, wasn’t he? She thought she wanted to be like other people. They had things she didn’t, they could be things she never could. She was trying to learn how to be more like that, even if only to fit in better… and yet when it happened, she fought it.

“It hurts,” she whimpered.

He pulled her in for a hug, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. “Yeah,” he said. “A wise man once said that pain is how you know you’re alive.”

“A wise man? That’s from Crossroads of Twilight, Dad,” said Nat. “It’s a silly fantasy novel.” She straightened up a bit. “Do you read those?”

“Yeah,” he admitted, embarrassed. “Your Mom got me into them.”

Your Mom. Kathy Jones had never existed, any more than Allen himself had before the Holy Grail had started messing with reality. “Tell me about Mom,” said Nat. It would distract her.

Allen leaned on the railing next to her and looked out to sea. “She had blue eyes. I like to think you got that from her more than me. And she loved snow. When you were little, at the very first snow she’d take you out in the yard to do snow angels and snowmen.”

Natasha could pretend she remembered that. It was an easy mental picture, a little girl with red pigtails building snowmen with her mother. She pictured it as an observer watching from the street, though, not as a participant… because it hadn’t happened to her.

“And she read fantasy books?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Allen nodded. “I watch Game of Thrones because I know she would never have missed it. I wondered if it were worth it, when I know now she wasn’t real, but… she was real to me. She’s a part of me and she always will be.”

In a way, Jim hadn’t been real, either. He’d been something Newton made up, brought to life for a purpose and then discarded. But he’d been real to the little group of people who’d known him for his few brief weeks of life, and they would remember him. It wasn’t the same as him actually being able to live on, but it was all they had… was that supposed to help? Nat honestly wasn’t sure if it did or not.

“When she got sick she was terrified,” Allen went on. “Her mother died of cancer. She knew the research had come a long way but when we were growing up, cancer was a death sentence. She didn’t want you to be scared but she also didn’t want to lie to you, so she sat down with you and explained what she had, and that it might take a long time for her to get well again. The doctors told her that staying positive was the best medicine, but I don’t think she ever really believed she was going to get better.”

“I’m sorry,” said Nat.

“Not your fault,” Allen replied automatically.

“No, it is,” she corrected him. “I’m the one who wrote your life story. I didn’t want to give myself too many living relatives because people would wonder why they never saw them, so I made myself an only child with one parent so I’d have an excuse to run off in an emergency.” She swallowed hard. It had all been just an exercise at that point. Something that would never affect reality. “I killed her.”

“You created her, too,” said Allen. “And you didn’t kill Jim, either. From what you said, he made a choice based on what he knew at the time… that’s all any of us can do, isn’t it?”

“I guess,” Nat said.

Allen put an arm around her again, and she leaned her head against his shoulder and let her eyes drift shut again. This was one of those things normal people had and Natasha didn’t – the comfort of another human being’s warm body, the knowledge that pain was universal and that nobody could change the past. The parts of humanity that Nat kept rejecting, she observed, were the bits that were considered weaknesses… and yet, she should know she couldn’t have the other parts on their own. Emotion was a package deal. She couldn’t be strong when her friends were weak, and then refuse to allow them to do the same for her.

“You need a kleenex?” Allen asked her.

She shook her head. “No,” said Nat. She knew that whatever else she could or couldn’t do, she couldn’t cry. She could cry on command, when a situation demanded tears from the perfect spy, but the mere fact that she was capable of that made her unable to cry and mean it. It would be a performance… and right now, what she really wanted most in the world was to stop having to perform.

The next morning they had a very Italian breakfast of pastries and espresso. Their host, Enrico, had presented Clint with a bottle of limoncello out of his private collection of wines and spirits, and was now chatting with Perenelle about homunculi over a bottle of morning wine, which was apparently something people did in Italy. In the middle of it all, a servant came up to announce that there were visitors.

“Both for your guests,” the man added. “Lady Andretti, and a gentleman from England, who says he is Earl of Dudley.”

Even in her low spirits, Nat had to smile a little. She knew Fury hated that title, but he didn’t want to give the Contessa priority.

“Let them in,” Enrico directed, and then turned to the CAAP.

“I heard,” said Nat, standing up. “Fury’s here,” she added to the others.

“Oh, boy, here it comes,” muttered Clint.

Fury was not the first to enter, though – instead it was a woman in an enormous hat and sunglasses, who breezed in trailing Valentino skirts and an enormous Louis Vuitton handbag. “Which of you is Doctor Jones?” she asked.

“That’s me,” said Natasha.

The woman came up and kissed Nat on both cheeks, and then did so again. “My darling!” she exclaimed. “I was never so angry with anyone as when they wouldn’t let me take my family off the ship! How can I ever repay you for saving them? Name anything! Whatever you like.”

Nat glanced up, and saw Fury waiting in the doorway. He was dressed in civilian clothes today, a light jacket, t-shirt, and black jeans, but the eyepatch was still in place and his ever-present scowl was there. For a moment she considered coming up with a choice of reward that would annoy him further, but then decided not to be petty. She had a much better idea.

“Oh, I don’t need a reward,” she began.

“Nonsense!” said Lady Andretti. “Let me make some gesture, at least!”

“Well… I don’t know if you’re interested in archaeology, but if you could help us fund a search for the ruins of Rogsey Abbey in Cornwall…” Nat glanced back at Sir Stephen, and saw him stand up a little straighter.

“I don’t know a thing about it, I’m afraid,” said Lady Andretti, “but I would be delighted!”

#fanfic #natasha romanov #steve rogers #clint barton #sam wilson #sharon carter

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celestial-skylines · 7 years ago

Text

Winter pt.3:

Section 1 of the Atmosphere series

Series masterlist

It was now the first week of winter break.

The sun slowly rose and you watched as sunlight leaked into your dark room through the windows.

Your phone dinged by your head.You turned to the side and checked it.

“new message”

You clicked it off once more and placed it back down by your pillow. You already knew it was one of your friends making sure you were awake.

All of your friends were determined to start break off with a bang so you guys made plans to have brunch and then make your way to the orchard and hang out around there.

Lifting your duvet, you pressed your toes to the cold wood floor like you did every other morning now that it was cold season. Pushing yourself off of the bed, you stretched before making your way to the closet.

You looked down at your winter boots that you found yourself using regularly just as you had thought you would. You shivered at you felt the brisk morning air against you as you started to change into more appropriate clothing.

Making your way to the living room to burn some time before your friends came for you, you grabbed a granola bar to hold you over before brunch.

Throwing yourself on the couch, you landed with a grunt. You began to scroll through your phone, checking all of your notifications. Unaware of how much time had past, you jumped at the loud sound of your friend blaring her car horn, trying to get your attention.

“shoot!” you rushed to grab your bag and coat before running through the first floor of your house to turn off all of the lights and violently pulling on your boots. Pulling open the front door, you waved at your friends before turning around to lock up.

-----

Brunch had gone well and now you and your friends were on your way to the orchard. Usually there was some traffic going to the orchard, seeing as it had become more popular lately but apparently no one had the same idea of going the first day of break seeing as it was seeming to take about 30 minutes to get there rather than the usual hour it took.

You fiddled around with a book you had brought along for the car ride when your friend spoke out to you unexpectedly.

“You know that guy you like is the school shooter kid everyone talks about. He's nothing but a pothead.” she said from the backseat.

“hmm?” you turned your head to look at her.

“You haven't heard all the rumors?” someone else piped in.

“No?” you said hesitantly. “Well, yeah I have but like I didn't know they were talking about him? Also for the record, I don't like him, we barely know each other.” You explained.

“Yeah well the way you look at him in the halls says otherwise!!” someone teased.

“oh my god shut up” you laughed as you turned back to face the road ahead and you watched as the orchard came into view.

----

Everyone jumped out of the car and made their way to the entrance. You paused for a second to think about what they had said about Connor. Sure he probably was a pothead based on first impressions, but he didn't seem that bad. And who was to say he's actually done those nasty things people say he had.

You caught up with your friends after someone broke your train of thought with a loud call of your name.

“y/n! Come on we don't have all day!” they laughed.

“don't we though?” you rolled your eyes.

---

You and your friends wandered around for a while. Some looking for one last apple in the trees from Autumn while others watched in amusement and told them they would never find one.

The sun traveled across the sky and was now about ¾ way from where it had started when it rose this morning. It would set in a few hours.

Your group continued the trek around the orchard and then went to the gift shop and the ice cream parlor before it started to get dark out.

As you exited one of the small stores, you caught sight of a certain someone's dark shoulder length waves.

“What a coincidence” You thought to yourself, turning to look at your friends as they exited behind you.

“You guys go ahead, I'll catch up.”

With a few “okay’s”, you made your way over to where he was sitting-facing the trees-on top of a short fence that desperately needed a new coat of paint.

“Connor?” you tested, just incase it just happened to be someone who looked exactly like him from behind.

He ran a hand through his dark hair and turned his head to the side slightly so he could glance at you but then turned back towards the trees again, his hair falling back to frame his face.

You caught a glimpse of his red eyes when he turned to look at you. You weren't quite sure if it was because he had been crying or smoking. You guessed it was the former due to the fact that he it really didn't smell like weed and the fact that the seemed to wipe his face on his sleeve before turning to look at you.

You thought back to what had occured in the previous weeks before deciding what to do next.

You and Connor Murphy barely knew each other, and the fact that you were following each other really meant close to nothing. You had had close to no conversations with him and yet here you were worrying over him and constantly thinking about him.

You threw all caution into the wind before placing one foot on the first rail of the fence and pushed yourself up to sit next to him.

“You look like you need some company. Just uh let me know if you want me to leave.” you said hesitantly, not trying to make him mad.

He didn't say anything in response. He just let out a breath and gave the slightest of nods.

---

It started to get dark and you realized just how long you had been sitting there with Connor. Your phone started to ring in your pocket and you jumped off of the fence and walked a few feet ahead of it before answering.

“Hello?”

“Y/n! Where have you been we've been looking for you everywhere, we're about to leave.”

“Oh shoot is it 6 already? Uhhhhhh.” you turned your head in Connor's direction and he locked eyes with you for a second before looking away. “Uhm...You guys go ahead without me. There's a few things I wanted to see before we left.”

“Are you sure??How are you gonna get home?” Your friend asked through the line.

“I'll call an uber or something I don't know. I'll figure it out don't worry.”

“Okay...” your friend sounded hesitant. “Just keep me updated, okay? I don't want to be responsible if you get kidnapped because we left you here.” You smiled at her comment and assured her you would let her know if you got a ride home.

“You don't have to stay yknow.” You heard Connor say behind you after you ended the call.

You turned back around and smiled at him.“I know.” you shrugged. “Besides, I wanted to go to À La Mode on the way home and I know my friends hate it there.”

He stared at you for a moment. Silent. Then he spoke.

“Let's go then” he said, pushing himself off of the fence.

“huh?” you raised an eyebrow.

“I'll give you a ride home. I don't want to be held responsible for leaving you by yourself if you get murdered out here in the middle of nowhere.” He said, walking back towards the entrance along the dusty trail nearby.

You stood there for a second going over what he just said before running ahead to walk next to him.

“That's so weird.” you spoke without context.

“What is?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“My friend said almost the exact same thing. Except she said if I got kidnapped. Which frankly sounds a lot more pleasant than being murdered.”

“ah” was all he said as the two of you continued walking along the dirt path, the sun slowly setting behind you, a mix of purples and oranges hitting the land around you.

Your shadows grew and slowly disappeared as you reached Connor’s car.

“Sorry, it's kind of a mess in here” He apologized after opening the door, starting to throw things into the back seat.

“No worries” you dismissed, getting into the passengers side. His car smelled faintly of weed but you dismissed that too.

He got in as well and the engine roared as he turned the key. You gazed at the orchard as he pulled out of the parking lot and the sun faded out of view, twilight immediately taking over.

A/N: THE LONG AWAITED

#connor murphy fanfic #connor murphy imagine #connor murphy #connor murphy fanfiction #connor murphy x reader #deh x reader #deh fanfic #deh imagine #deh #dear evan hansen

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drink-the-midnight-oil · 7 years ago

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Wounds Heal, Scars fade

Summary: Jughead Jones, loner extraordinaire, has possessed a superpower ever since his birth. The ability to heal people’s wounds. But only small ones. So what happens when the girl he’s had a crush on since forever is injured in a way past his known abilities? Will she die? Or will he find a way to expand his gift and save the love of his life?

The sound of an alarm going off woke Jughead up from a fitful sleep. He reached over and pressed the snooze button on his phone, effectively shutting off the alarm. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Jughead sat up and looked around.

He was in his sleeping bag on the floor of Riverdale High's janitor's closet. Last night had been a disaster. After the Twilight Drive-In had been shut down, Jughead had gone to his father's trailer, hoping to crash there for a night or two. Instead his alcoholic father had greeted him, an empty beer bottle in hand, by yelling at Jughead and blaming him for his mother and sister leaving. He had then proceeded to throw the glass bottle at Jughead, just narrowly missing him. However, the bottle crashed into the railing and shards of glass found their way into Jughead's hands. He had run straight to the high school, tears streaming down his face, and found sanctuary in the small supply closet.

Now, as the hot water ran down his back in the locker room shower, he let out a breathy sigh. He had managed to pull out the glass pieces last night but the cuts on his hands still stung. Turning off the water, he wrapped a towel around himself and walked over to the sink. Looking down at his hands, he saw the small crisscrosses that marked them, like little red lines decorating his palms. Jughead closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

A slight tingling swept through his palms, almost as if someone was tickling them. It flowed through his entire body, warming him and calming him. His tense shoulders relaxed and he felt his aching bones be soothed. The tingling faded and Jughead opened his eyes. The red lines on his hands had disappeared.

The school bell rang as Jughead hurried down the hallway to the Blue & Gold's office. He heard students talking excitedly about the upcoming winter formal. Personally, he thought school dances were dumb and overrated. It was just another way that society made kids feel left out and unwanted. He wasn't going, no matter what.

Pushing open the door to the Blue and Gold, Jughead walked inside. A girl was already there, reading something. She was wearing a pastel sweater and her blonde hair was pulled up into a neat ponytail, a signature look for the one and only Betty Cooper. A straight A student, community volunteer, and cheerleader, Betty was Riverdale High's resident golden girl. But she was also Jughead's best and only friend. Not to mention, he'd been in love with her since the third grade.

Betty looked up and saw him.

"Good morning, Jughead," she said, a distracted frown on her face.

“Mornin’ Betty. What’s the matter?”

Betty held out the paper she’d been reading. Jughead took it and scanned through it.

“It’s a police report, Jug. For all those attacks that have been happening for the past few weeks. All those late knife stabbings and muggings. I spoke to Kevin about it and he said that Sheriff Keller thinks the Ghoulies are behind it all.”

“It says here that they are targeting mostly journalists and reporters.” Jughead dropped his messenger bag onto a chair and perched on the edge of the desk.

“Yeah,” Betty started chewing on her lip like she always did when she was nervous. It was a very common habit, Jughead had noticed.

“We got a letter last night.”

“What?”

“My parents got a letter from the perpetrators saying that they needed to back off and stop investigating the Jingle Jangle case. Same goes for us. Otherwise there would be fatal consequences.”

“Did you report it?”

“Yes. My parents went to the police station this morning. My mom said we don’t have anything to be worried about because it’s probably just some kids trying to have some fun.”

“I don’t think that’s fun, Betty. This is dangerous. We shouldn’t be doing this if it’s going to be a threat to your well being. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Well that’s why I have you,” Betty said, a knowing look in her eyes. Jughead looked away, flushing. He knew that she wasn’t talking about him being the brave knight.

For as long as he could remember, Jughead had possessed the superhuman ability to heal. He could heal cuts and bruises and small wounds, nothing too big. It went against all the laws of nature but Jughead wasn’t complaining. With an absent mother and alcoholic father, abuse wasn’t uncommon at home. His father would hit him from time to time, with nothing more than his hands though. Jughead would cry himself to sleep when he was younger, scared stiff. In the mornings he would wake up, finding that his eye hadn’t blackened, his ribs weren’t bruised and his lip wasn’t cut. He learned to heal at will and started running away to spend the night somewhere, anywhere but that trailer. The healing was quite useful. His main fear was that Social Services would take him away if people saw him covered in scars and bruises. And as much as he feared his father’s wrath, he still had hope that one day their family would be whole again.

Betty was the only one who knew about his ability other than himself. She was the only one he trusted. She was the light that kept his hope alive in his dark world. And there was another reason she knew...

“Only if you’re absolutely sure, Betty. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

Betty smiled at him. “I think I can manage that.”

As Betty reached up to smooth her already perfect ponytail, Jughead noticed a mark on her palm. He frowned seeing it.

“Betty, what happened to your palm?” he asked.

Betty’s face went pale and she dropped her hand to her side, balling it up. “Nothing,” she said, averting her gaze.

But Jughead knew it wasn’t nothing. “Let me see your palms, Betty.”

“No,” Betty said, looking down. Her voice started to shake. “Please just leave it alone Jughead.”

“I want to see what happened. Open your fists.”

Betty looked back at Jughead and he was shocked to see the tears in her eyes. Something was really wrong. Worry built up in his chest as he took her hand and gently pried open her fist. Shock coursed through him as he saw the fresh crescent shaped scars on her palms. He took her other hand and sure enough, there was a line of perfect half moons across it too.

“Why didn’t you say anything, Betty?”Jughead asked, concerned.

“I - I didn’t want you to be upset,” Betty said, her voice cracking.

“Betty, I would never be upset. Don’t ever think that. What happened?” Jughead stroked the scars gently with his thumb, still holding her hand.

“The letter, the investigation, and school on top of that. It’s just too much, Jug. I didn’t think I would relapse, b - but I’m just a weak girl,” Tears were falling freely now. “I - I’m sorry.”

“Oh, Betty,” Jughead pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. Her body was racked with sobs, and she clutched his shirt. “That’s not true. You know it. You’re not weak. You’re one of the strongest people I know. Don’t ever doubt yourself. We’ll make it okay. I promise. But I don’t want you to hide this kind of stuff, alright? It only makes things worse.”

Betty nodded into his chest. Jughead gently pulled away, clasping her small hands in his. “Look at me.”

Betty looked up at him through sooty lashes, the light reflecting off her watery green eyes. God, she’s beautiful, Jughead thought. Like an angel surrounded by a heavenly glow.

“Let’s fix up your palms.”

This was the reason she knew. He folded her hands between his and willed the magic to do its work. A surge of energy flowed through his hands and into hers. He saw her close her eyes and take a shaky breath, her tense shoulders slowly relaxing. He couldn’t count how many times they’d done this before. Her harming herself and him healing the reminders of those nightmares. It had grown less frequent over the past year after she had started taking the anti-depression medicine. But this sudden recurrence frightened him.

A wave of sadness suddenly hit him and he knew it wasn’t his own. That was the one downside to his power. Whatever the person he was healing felt, he felt too. It was like he was taking away both their physical and emotional pain. And over the years, he had felt a lot of what Betty felt. The real raw emotion in her that he could feel was what made him love her so much. He didn’t have to worry about her pretending, not when he could sense her emotions like this.

A wave of something else hit him too. An unidentifiable feeling. It was..... happy. Pure. Loving. But not quite. As if she was trying to hold back something which she didn’t want to hold back. Almost like if she -

Betty opened her eyes and pulled her hands away. It was clear that she had realized that he had felt it. She muttered a thanks to Jughead and fixed her ponytail. A few deep breaths and perfect Betty Cooper was back.

“We have work to do,” she said simply, grabbing her notebook.

“Betty - ,” Jughead started, wanting to ask her what that had been about. But he saw the look in her eyes. She didn’t want to talk about it. And he didn’t want to push her. So he changed his course.

“How would you like to go the the winter formal with me?”

This was a terrible idea, Jughead thinks to himself as he walks up to Betty’s door. Winter formals are for the weak-hearted and shallow minded, he’s known that since forever. So why did he make a stupid decision and ask her to the dance?

The sight of her delighted face pushes all the negative thoughts out of his mind. She had positively radiated ecstasy when he had asked her to go. The image of her beaming brings a smile onto his face. So maybe it would be worth it.

He rings the doorbell and is greeted by Alice Cooper, prim as usual. She smiles at him and tells him he looks wonderful and come in, Betty’s just finishing up. Jughead waits in the living room, hands nervously shoved into his pockets. He’s wearing one of his dad’s suits and the jacket’s a bit too big on him. He’s much leaner than FP and it doesn’t fit right in the shoulders. The grey beanie is still on his head, though. There’s some things he will not compromise.

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs makes him stand up a little taller and adjust his jacket.

Betty enters the room and it’s as if all the air has suddenly been sucked out because Jughead can’t breathe. The Betty standing before him is one he doesn’t recognize. She’s wearing a white gown that clings to her body. It goes all the way down to her calves, the skirt made of satin. The sleeves fall off her shoulders and Jughead can see her prominent collar bone. Her hair is down and falls in loose waves on her shoulders. He always knew she was beautiful, but this? It’s as if someone’s playing a cruel joke on him, tempting him because they know she’ll never love him. She gives him a nervous smile.

“What?”

“I - Uh - Well -,” Jughead stutters. He’s tongue-tied. From somewhere in his conscience he finds the ability to speak. “Shall we leave?”

Betty looks a bit disappointed but she doesn’t say anything.

“Yeah, let me just get my wrap.”

Once she’s ready, they head out to where Jughead has parked his dad’s car. It took a lot of work for FP to agree to giving Jughead the car for the night. It’s not the prettiest ride but it’s much better than walking to the dance or asking Betty’s mom to drive them.

They ride in silence for some time, the only sound that of the wind rushing past. After a while, Jughead clears his throat.

“Betty, you look beautiful.”

Betty turns to him, surprised. “Thank you, Juggie. You clean up nicely, too.”

Jughead glances at her and shrugs. “It was the best I could do.”

They arrive at the school and Jughead opens the car door for Betty. They walk to the gymnasium where the dance is being held. Lights have been put up everywhere and a band is playing up front. People are dancing, dressed in an array of gowns and suits. Betty looks radiant in the dim light and Jughead knows that he has the best-looking date there.

“Would you like to dance?” Once again, Jughead has surprised himself. Betty seems to think so too, the way she’s looking at him.

“Since when do you dance?”

“Oh, my dear Betty. I have many special talents. Apart from the ones you already know about, of course.” Where is he getting this confidence from? It’s probably the nerves.

“Well then, yes. I would love to dance.”

So Jughead takes Betty’s hand and leads her to the dance floor. Luckily it’s a fast song. They dance for a while, Betty moving gracefully to the music while Jughead shuffles awkwardly. But she seems to be having a lot of fun and that makes Jughead happy.

The song ends and a slow one starts. Couples around them start pulling each other close, gently dancing. Jughead decides to take the opportunity. He holds out his hand to Betty and she takes it, a curious glint in her eye. He takes her hand and places it on his shoulder, clasping the other in his own. He rests his other hand at her hip and they dance.

After some time, Betty wraps both her arms around his neck and that’s when the butterflies hit. He places his hands at her waist, tentatively. A love song is playing and Jughead can feel his palms starting to sweat. Her face is so close to his that he can count the tiny freckles across her nose. She’s staring at him in a way that she’s never looked at him before.

“So... any letters recently?” Great job, Jones. You ruined the moment.

Betty looks away for a moment and then looks back.

“No, nothing recently. My parents haven’t stopped investigating and neither have we but there hasn’t been any sort of communication.”

“That’s good, I guess. Maybe you’re in the clear.”

“I hope so.”

They dance in a comfortable silence. Suddenly, Betty stops dancing.

“Jughead, when was the last report of a letter?”

“I think yours was the last one. Why?”

“That’s funny,” Betty mutters. “It’s been two weeks since I got one. And the letters always come in pretty regular intervals. It’s been too long.”

Betty takes her hands of of Jughead’s shoulders.

“I just had a thought. Come on.” She grabs his hand and pulls him through the crowd and into the hallway.

“Betty - Betty, where are we going?” Jughead asks rushing to keep up with her.

“The Blue & Gold. What if letters haven’t been coming because the Ghoulies are up to something? I mean, it’s the perfect night.”

They reach the B&G office and Betty pushes open the door.

“Everyone in town is going to be here, at the formal. Even the Sheriff. It would be a classic night to pull off a drug exchange. And from our last few investigations, I think I know where it’s going to happen.”

“Betty Cooper does it again,” Jughead says, impressed.

“We need copies of the last few letters. I think all the other ones are here. But the copy of mine at home. Can you please find the other letters? I’ll go and get mine.”

Betty grabs Jughead’s keys runs out of the office and into the parking lot. Jughead is shifting stacks of papers, looking for the letters when he hears the sound of a muffled scream from outside. He rushes to the window and watches as two masked figures run away from his car and a girl in a white dress crumples to the ground. Betty.

Time seems to stop as Jughead runs out to her, nothing else mattering at that moment. His blood runs cold when he approaches her and sees her lying on the ground, barely breathing.

The first thing his mind registers is the blood. There’s so much blood. It’s spreading on the front of her white dress from what appears to be a stab wound. He crouches down next to her, his heart beating fast. His hands are trembling as he looks at her pale form on the ground. Her hair is spread around her head, like a halo and her white dress, with the red flower of death blooming on it, it’s tragically beautiful. He’s vaguely aware of him yelling her name, trying to revive her. His jacket is off and pressed to her wound, trying to stop the flow of blood. They shouldn’t have continued their investigation. He brought this on her. She received a death threat and he didn’t stop her from pursuing the case.

Betty gasps and her eyelids flutter open. Her breathing is staggered. She sees Jughead’s horrified face looming over hers. His eyes are filled with tears. This isn’t the type of wound he can heal. It’s too serious. But he presses his hands to her stomach and tries. Nothing. It’s hopeless. He’s going to watch Betty die right in front of him. He can’t even call an ambulance because his phone is inside. And nobody seems to have heard him shouting.

“Betty, Betty, please don’t leave me. Just keep breathing.” He’s trying to reassure himself more than her. She’s losing too much blood.

“It’s too serious of a wound, Betty. I can’t heal it.” Jughead is unabashedly crying now.

“J - Jughead, you have to go. Ch - Chase down those guys and f - find out where-” She coughs, once. “You have t - to. Leave me and go.”

“NO! I’m not leaving you. I - I’ll call an ambulance. Just hold on, Betty please.” Jughead feels his heart in his throat.

“Jughead.” Betty’s looking at him sadly now. The metallic odor of blood is everywhere and it’s making Jughead’s head swim. But he is not going to leave her.

Try HARDER, his conscience says. But his efforts are in vain.

She raises a bloodstained hand to his cheek and brings his face down so that their noses are just millimeters away. Her eyes are still bright green but they look so tired. She’s fighting hard, he can see it. Her eyes fill with tears and she gives him a weak smile. And then she kisses him.

It’s like fireworks have exploded in Jughead’s chest. Her lips are soft on his, tasting of vanilla. And then he’s kissing her back, hard. She is NOT going to die. From a very deep place inside of him, he summons the power.

Energy courses through him, stronger than ever and rushes through his hands into the wound. She pulls away and gasps, her back arching, as the torn tissues restitch themselves. And Jughead can feel the strong wave of emotion radiating from her as the energy gives back. But this time, he sees images.

They’re in third grade and Betty talks to the shy beanie-wearing kid for the first time. She likes his sense of humor. They’re in Archie’s tree house and make a pact to be best friends forever. She knows she will always keep that promise. Fifth grade graduation and she’s so proud when Jughead gets an award for his writing. Seventh grade dance and Betty wants to go with Archie. But he takes Cheryl instead. Betty’s crying and it’s Jughead who comforts her. They go to Pop’s and Betty is happier than she’s been in a while. High school starts and Archie becomes a jock. He barely has time for them anymore. She has too many AP classes and assignments, not to mention volunteering and extra-curriculars. That’s when the self-harming starts. Nobody notices but Jughead who sees her stressed face no matter how hard she tries to hide it. He holds her as she cries. He doesn’t run away when she shows him her scars. For the first time, he heals her them. Archie doesn’t like her back. It hurts. But Betty’s secretly relieved. She only liked the idea of them as a power couple. She spends all of her free time with Jughead. They work at the Blue & Gold. Betty is mesmerized by his way of spinning boring stories into suspenseful articles. He accompanies her to on every investigation, no matter how crazy it may be. He supports her. She starts seeing Jughead as more than her childhood best friend. He’s not a scrawny, scowling boy anymore. He’s a good-looking, talented writer now. She realizes how much happier she is with him. Archie could never make her feel like that. She starts noticing the way he stares at her, entranced. It stirs something in her. He sees her for what she is. Not a perfect, ideal student and daughter. But a real person who hurts just as much as everyone else. And she falls in love with him.

Jughead pulls away his hands, breathing hard. What did he just witness? The flurry of pictures, the feeling, the reality. Could it all be true?

Betty’s eyes are closed and she’s breathing lightly. Jughead sees that the wound has been healed. How did he do that? There are too many questions to be answered. He leans over her face.

“Betty?” A gentle whisper.

Her eyes fly open and she sees him there, anxious.

“Jughead? Wha-”

“Oh my god, you’re alright.” Jughead’s arms are around her and he’s buried his face in her neck. “I though you were going to die.”

“Hey, I’m not dead. It’s okay,” Betty strokes his hair, his beanie having fallen off when he ran to her. “But how did you do that?”

Jughead let’s go of her and helps her sit up. “I don’t know. I wasn’t able to heal you and then you kissed me and that did it. I’m so sorry, Betty. I shouldn’t have let you continue investigating after that threat. It’s my fault. I don’t know what I would have done if you died.”

Betty places a hand on his arm. “It’s NOT your fault, Jughead. It was my own choice. And besides, I’m not dead, am I? We’re okay.”

She gives him a small smile. “So the kiss did it, huh?”

Jughead’s face turns red. “Yeah, I guess so. W - Why did you do it? Kiss me?”

Betty looks into the distance. “Well I didn’t want to die without having done that at least once.”

“Kissed a boy?”

Betty looks back at him and chuckles. “No. Kissed you.”

Jughead’s heart is threatening to jump out of his rib cage now. “Betty.... when I was healing you, I saw some things. Memories. Of us when we were kids. What was all that?”

“You saw that? How embarrassing.” It’s Betty’s turn to blush.

“What did it all mean? You not liking Archie. And -” Jughead hesitates. “And you being in love with me.”

Betty studies her hands. Her fingernails have dried blood under them. She takes a deep breath.

“Jughead, I’m not going to deny it. I do have feelings for you. All that you saw was real. How could it not be? You’re one of the best people I know, Jughead. And I get it if you don’t feel the sa -”

But Jughead interrupts.

“Betty Cooper, I have been in love with you since that day in third grade when you told Chuck Clayton to leave me alone. I have loved you every day, every hour, and every minute since then. I love you for showing me the brighter part of life, for making me smile when no one else does. I love you for giving me the courage to share my thoughts without worrying about other people’s opinion. You are my family, Betty. More so than my blood relations. I love the way you bite your lip when you’re nervous, I love the way you’re eyebrows scrunch up when you’re concentrating hard, I love how you sneak food at bake sales because your mom won’t let you have too many calories. You are kind, and strong, and beautiful. By God, you’re beautiful. Even a writer like me could never find enough words to tell you how good of a person you are. And without you, I don’t know how I would have gotten through the years. You make me whole, Betty Cooper. You bring out the best of me. And with all that I am, I love you.”

Jughead finishes and his head is spinning. What the hell was that? He’s going to have scared her away for good now. That was too much, too early. He looks a her face, scared.

Betty looks astonished. But a smile slowly spreads across her face. She takes his face in her small hands and looks him straight in the eye.

“And I love you.”

This time it’s him who leans in and their lips meet. He’s flying and crashing and burning all at the same time. His hands cradle her face, and her fingers find their way into his hair. She pulls him close, kissing him hard. Her lips are oh, so soft against his, nothing like he’s ever imagined. He flicks his tongue against her lips and she lets out a moan, gripping his hair tighter.

The sound of police sirens cause them to break apart, but Jughead doesn’t take his eyes off of her.

“I fully intend to finish this later.”

They stand up, hand in hand and walk towards the noise. Betty’s wearing Jughead’s jacket to cover the blood stains and both that and the shirt Jughead’s wearing are dark enough so the blood stains don’t show too clearly. They reach the front of the building and see Sheriff Keller, still in a suit, talking to a policeman as two others push the hooded figures from earlier into a cop car.

“Looks like they got them after all. There’s going to be a lot of questions, you know.” Jughead squeezes Betty’s hand. She leans into him.

“We’ll deal with that when the time comes. Right now I want a burger from Pop’s.”

“Betty,�� Jughead says, turning to her. “You almost just died and we’re covered in blood.”

“I want Pop’s,” Betty replies, simply. She’s looking at him with her big doe eyes and he can’t say no. He shakes his head, laughing.

“Come on, let’s go.”

They walk to Jughead’s car, fully aware that they will have to report their encounter with the masked people and there will be an investigation following it all. There are too many things to worry about so Jughead pushes it all out his mind. He’s with Betty and she didn’t die. He healed her somehow. How he did it will remain a mystery but what matters is that she’s alive. As they head to Pop’s, Jughead realizes that right now, he couldn’t be happier.

This is LONG overdue. And I mean LOOOOONG. I had exams to deal with so I couldn’t write but now I have finally finished it. This one is based off of @frostbite883 ‘s prompt. I really hope you guys like it and have fun reading it. I’ll have more fics coming out soon if all goes according to plan. Once again, sorry for the delay!

XOXO

Rhea

#sprousehart-stan fanfics #bughead #bughead fanfiction #betty x jughead #betty cooper #jughead jones #answered #frostbite883

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amylillian22 · 8 years ago

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An Unexpected Surprise - Part 2 - Liam Dunbar Imagine

Requested by: @hollandisstilinski @justdreamstars @lotte142 @aarushi9112 @dont-try-and-stop-me @kitty-love-girls @twilight-loveer @deadpoolgirl23 and sooooooo many anons.

Word Count: 3,005

Warnings: Teen pregnancy, hateful things being said by parents,

Author: I’m so glad everyone liked the first part. Here’s the second part as requested.

[My Teen Wolf Master List]

Part 1 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

Y/N slowly walked up the front porch steps of Scott's house with a duffle bag on each shoulder and rolling two suitcases in her hands. She was soaked from head to toe. She had walked in the pouring rain from her house to her alpha's. She was cold and numb, but that didn't faze her. She was too concerned about what had just happened, her parents kicked her out of the house after she told them she was pregnant.

She stared at the front door as her mind replayed what happened just an hour ago.

"Get out!" Her mother yelled.

"You are a disgrace to this family!" Her father added.

"No daughter of mine would be stupid enough to open her legs for some stupid boy!" Her mother yelled as she started pulling out Y/N's bags to pack her stuff and leave.

"I'm sorry, mom!" Y/N yelled back with tears in her eyes. She knew they wouldn’t throw her a party when she told them the news, but this wasn’t even remotely close to what she had expected from them.

"Are you planning on keeping it?" Her mother asked.

Y/N was at a loss for words. She hadn't even thought about what she was going to do. She thought after she talked to Liam, she would figure out what to do next, but with him out of the picture, she didn't have an answer to her mother's question.

"If you don't get an abortion or give this baby up for adoption, you're not welcome here," Y/N's dad said.

"Either way, we're not having our pregnant teenaged daughter living in our house," her mother said before she walked away, leaving Y/N in tears.

"Y/N?" Melissa's soft voice pulled Y/N out of her trance. Y/N blinked and stared at a confused and worried Melissa. She didn't even remember knocking on the door. "Honey, you're all wet. You're going to get sick."

"Werewolves don't get sick, remember?" She said with a quivering chin as she walked into the house slowly, making small puddles of water in the process with her wet clothes.

Melissa quickly grabbed a towel from the closet and wrapped it around Y/N. She rubbed her hands on her shoulders, trying to calm down the shaken up teenager. Melissa's eyes scanned all the bags she brought in. "Honey, is everything alright?"

Y/N shook her head as warm tears fell down her already wet face. "I didn't have anywhere else to go," she sobbed.

Melissa immediately hugged her and comforted her. "Okay, normally I wouldn't let Scott have any visitors after what happened tonight, but I think it's best you talk to the both of us at the same time."

Y/N looked up at Melissa. "What happened tonight?" She asked confused.

Melissa looked away from her, trying not to let Y/N see the tears forming in her eyes. "Why don't you change into some warm clothes and meet us in his room? We'll talk then."

Y/N went into the guest bathroom and quickly stripped off her wet clothes. She hung them over the shower rail to air dry. Before she left the bathroom, she brought the towel with her to ring out the water in her hair. She climbed up the stairs and overheard Melissa and Scott talking in his bedroom.

"I don't know. She just showed up with in tears and her bags. Scott, she seems like she might be in trouble," Melissa's voice was filled with worry as she sat on the edge of her son's bed.

Scott let out a deep frustrated sigh as he ran his hand over his face, wondering how this night could get any worse after his mom literally brought him back to life on a Super Moon.

"What the hell is wrong with my betas tonight?" Scott asked more to himself instead of his mom. "First Liam and now Y/N."

"Liam?" Melissa's eyebrows furrowed together. "I thought you said it was Theo who did this to you?"

"Theo just finished what Liam started," Scott explained.

"What did Liam start?" Y/N asked when she reached Scott's open doorframe. At first, Y/N was sad as she overheard their conversation about her, but it was immediately replaced with concern and somewhat anger knowing Liam probably did something stupid.

Y/N gasped when she finally realized Scott was lying in bed with a huge piece of gauze taped across his chest and stomach area. Y/N rushed to his bedside, "what the hell happened?!"

"Liam and Theo happened," Melissa said with so much anger and hate. She looked down at her son, who looked completely weak. "By the way, those two are never allowed in this house again."

"Mom-"

"Don't, Scott. I mean it," she said sternly with her arms crossed tightly to her chest with glassy eyes.

"You don't have to worry about them. I don't think I could forgive Theo for what he did. I shouldn’t have trusted him in the first place," Scott said sadly. “As for Liam, I don’t know….”

"Scott... what happened?" Y/N asked, too scared to know the answer.

He sighed before he spoke. "Hayden was dying and Liam got mad. With the Super Moon, he was out of control-"

"He killed him," Melissa interrupted.

Y/N's eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she gasped. Scott immediately shook his head. "Not exactly. Liam was upset about me not helping Hayden, because she was getting worse. So he took it out on me. I think he believed if he killed me, he would become an alpha and he could save Hayden with the bite, but I couldn't stop him. He had taken too much outta me. Liam only stopped when Mason came in and said Hayden didn't make it. Theo came in and finished what he started. If it hadn't been for mom not giving up on me, I wouldn't be here right now," Scott finished. Melissa grabbed and held on to her son's hand, silently thanking God her son was still alive.

Tears fell down Y/N's cheeks as Scott explained what happened tonight. She was absolutely horrified that Liam, who was just a precious puppy, would do such a horrible thing for a girl. Even though she had her reasons why she hadn't been around lately, a part of her felt extremely guilty she wasn't there for Scott tonight, especially since the pack had been drifting apart since Theo came into town. Everything made sense now as to why he was suddenly so eager to join Scott's pack.

"Hey, I'm okay," Scott reached for her hand with his free one. "It might take a while, but I'm going to fix it with everyone. We're going to be a pack again, because with The Dread Doctors still out there, we need each other to save everyone, okay?"

"That's the least of my problems right now," Y/N said between sniffles as she tightened her grip on Scott.

"Y/N, what happened?" Scott asked. Him and Melissa watched her carefully as she just stared down at their locked hands.

"My parents kicked me out of the house," her voice cracked as she spoke.

"What? Why?" Melissa asked.

Y/N swallowed hard and pushed back the sob in the back of her throat. She looked up and locked her tear-filled eyes with Scott’s. "I'm pregnant..." she whispered. Scott's eyes widened while Melissa gasped, both completely and utterly surprised.

"How...?" Melissa slapped her son's hand for his stupid question as it was obvious how Y/N got pregnant.

"It was the heat.... I'm sorry... I know you told... me not too... but I couldn't... control it... I should have... listened to you...." she said between sobs. Scott squeezed her hand tight while Melissa hugged her, rubbing her hand up and down Y/N's back, trying to soothe her.

After Y/N had calmed down to sniffles, Scott asked, "Does the father know?"

Y/N shook her head.

"Honey, you need to tell him," Melissa said.

"I can't..." Y/N answered.

"Why not?" The son and mother asked in unison.

"Because it’s Liam..." she whispered.

A week later.

Liam knew the pack was back together. Well, almost. He hasn’t been exactly welcomed back and Lydia was still in Eichen House. He had a feeling the rest of the pack members were going to plan an escape and break her out. They had to and he wanted to help. Although he was happy Hayden had magically rose from the dead, her return made him feel guiltier for how he left things with Scott. He was a completely different person - or rather a werewolf- the night of the Super Moon. With his anger on a completely different level, he couldn't control himself. He didn't know if Scott could ever forgive him, but Liam planned to do whatever it took to fix things with Scott.

Lacrosse practice had just ended and Liam was making his way down the hallway towards the locker room. Scott had skipped practice for reasons Liam didn't know. When he asked Stiles where Scott was, Stiles ignored him and walked away from him, purposefully hitting Liam's shoulder in the process. Liam let it go and decided he would somehow find out after practice.

Liam stopped in his tracks before turning the corner of the hallway when he overheard Malia on the phone.

"Is that why you've been skipping school lately. You've been sick?"

"Yeah, especially in the mornings."

Liam's heart dropped as soon as he recognized Y/N's voice through the phone. Fear washed over him at the possibility of The Dread Doctors doing some sort experiment on Y/N.

"I still can't believe your parents kicked you out. Do they even know you're staying with Scott?" Malia asked.

"Nope. They don't want anything to do with me," Y/N answered sadly.

"And does he know?"

"No, and I'd like to keep it that way until I figure out what I'm going to do."

He who? Liam thought to himself as he furrowed his eyebrows together. It had only been a little over a month since the last time he spoke to Y/N at Lydia's party. How much could things change within a month and to the point where Y/N's parents kicked her out? He met them the few times they were actually home and not away on a business trip out of the state. They were actually nice people. Very elegant and old fashioned.

"You really shouldn't eavesdrop on people's phone conversations." Stiles spoke, making Liam jump out of his skin. Liam put his hand above his racing heartbeat as he turned around to see an angry Stiles glaring at him.

Malia turned around and let out a small snarl at Liam, completely ignoring Y/N on the phone asking what's going on. "I'll see you in a bit," Malia said before she hung up. She walked over and stood next to Stiles, baring her sharp teeth at the beta while letting out a small growl.

"What's wrong with Y/N?" Liam immediately asked. Stiles shook his head and turned on his heel to walk way, but Liam grabbed his elbow and turned him back around to him, demanding an answer.

Malia let out a low growl in Liam's face. "Let him go."

"Tell me first," he tried to bargain. The seniors shook their heads as Stiles pulled his arm out of Liam's hold. All the anger Liam had vanished and was replaced with worry. "Just tell me she's okay," he said sadly.

"I can't say that," Stiles said before he walked away from Liam with Malia by his side.

"I don’t know what we’re supposed to do. What do we do, Stiles?" Malia asked, as she’s never known anyone who had been pregnant before.

"I don't either. I mean, my aunt went through it a couple of times, but this is completely different. I've never known someone our age to go through this."

"So, what do we do?" She asked again.

"I don't know. Be there for her is all we can do," Stiles said before they exited the hallway, making Liam's fears worse. Liam quickly rushed to the locker rooms to shower and head over to Scott's to get some answers.

*****

As Liam got closer to Scott's house, his werewolf hearing picked up the two best friends' conversation. He carefully and quietly walked towards the house, hoping Scott would be too caught up with Stiles to hear Liam coming with his werewolf hearing. Liam also hoped he would get something out of their conversation since no one seemed to want to tell him what's going on with Y/N.

"Wow," Stiles let out a deep and heavy sigh. "I mean I knew it was true, but hearing you confirm it just makes it more real, ya know? I wasn't expecting this to actually happen."

"None of us did," Scott added.

"And he still doesn't know?"

"No, so don't tell him," Scott quickly said. "She wants to be the one to tell him when she's ready. It's just hard considering everything that's happened between them and with us..." Scott trailed.

Who's this guy they keep talking about? Liam thought to himself, as he got closer to the front porch. What happened between him and Y/N, and the pack? Is it Theo? Liam's eyebrows shot up as a different possibility crossed his mind. Is it me?

"What else did your mom say when you took her to the hospital today?"

"She's right on track. She’s fine, at least human wise. I need her to see Deaton because we both have a lot of questions on how this could effect her supernatural side."

"Why haven't you done that already?!"

"I don't know! Things have changed since the Super Moon," Liam winced, remembering what he did that night, "and now we've been kind of busy trying to save everyone from The Dread Doctors."

Stiles sighed. "You're right, but you need to get her checked as soon as possible. We can't wait any longer-"

"Shhh," Scott quickly hushed Stiles when he heard a floorboard creak. Liam mentally slapped himself for not being careful walking up the front porch steps. Within seconds, the front door flung open, revealing an angry Scott.

"What's wrong with her?" Liam immediately asked instead of greeting them or apologizing for listening into their conversation.

"Nothing's wrong," Scott answered.

"You're a terrible liar," Liam's eyes narrowed at his alpha. "What's wrong with Y/N? Why is she living with you? What happened?" He fired one right after another.

"It's not my place to say. Even if she said I could tell you, I wouldn't."

Liam's shoulders staggered. "I'm sorry, Scott, but if she's in trouble or in danger, I need to know. I still care about her. She's still my best friend."

Stiles scoffed. "You have a funny way of showing it considering the one person she needed the most these past few days was too busy with his new girlfriend, killing his alpha, and having his head up his little werewolf ass-"

"Stiles!"

"I'm not even sorry," Stiles glared at Liam with so much hate.

"Let me help. Let me do something. Just tell me what I can do," Liam said desperately.

Scott could sense how much he was hurting, but it wasn't enough to forgive him, at least not right now. What Liam did to him was almost unforgivable. He needed more time and space, but he knew Liam and Y/N had to work something out for the sake of their unborn child.

"I can't tell you what to do. This is something you need to do on your own," Scott finally said.

"Can I come in and wait for her?" Liam asked, hopeful his alpha would help him out.

"No. You're not allowed in this house," Liam's head hung low. "But you can wait for her on the porch. She went to get ice cream with Malia. She should be back any minute."

Liam nodded before Scott closed the front door. He sat on the front porch steps and waited for Y/N. He didn't know how long it would take her to get home, but he would wait all night if he had to.

Liam pulled his phone out after it vibrated in his pocket. It was a new text message from Hayden, wondering where he was and if he wanted to come over for a little bit. Liam sighed and said maybe some other time before he opened a new text message for Y/N. He hadn't spoken to her in about a month. As he stared at the blank new message, he realized he had no idea what to tell her. Hell, he didn't even know if she would read his text, let alone respond to it.

"Liam?"

Liam's head snapped up at the sudden familiar voice. He was so focused on what to text Y/N, he didn't even hear her or Malia walking towards the house. Malia let out a small and low growl at Liam. Y/N ignored Malia as she approached her old best friend.

"What are you doing here?" Y/N asked him.

He swallowed hard. "I came to see you. Do you have a second to talk?"

Y/N bit her lip, unsure if she wanted this. She knew she had to talk to him, but she wasn't ready.

Malia reached for Y/N's hand and squeezed it. Y/N looked at the werecoyote, who was encouraging her to talk to him. "It'll be okay," she whispered before she walked inside of Scott's house giving Liam the death glare in the process.

"Do you want to sit?" Liam asked, patting the space next to him. She hesitated before she joined him on the steps. She placed the now empty cup with a little bit of melted ice cream next to her before looking at Liam.

"Are you okay?" He immediately asked. She shook her head, unable to look at him. "Can you please talk to me?"

"I don't even know where to start..." she trailed.

"Why don't you start from the beginning?" He asked.

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. Liam sensed how terrified she was and immediately pulled her in for a hug. She didn't realize how much she missed him and how much she needed his embrace. She clung on to him as she sobbed, dampening his shirt in the process. He rocked her back and forth, kissed her forehead, and ran his hand through her hair before she pulled back to look at him. He locked his worried blue eyes with her tear-filled eyes, searching for answers.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered.

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