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he-flies-me-to-the-moon-and-back · 3 years

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All The Feelings Come to Life

There is Castiel, standing not too far from where Dean is - only in his towel, his hair is all dampened, and beads of water trickle down his half-naked body.

Dean couldn't take his eyes off Castiel. He unconsciously swallows down his saliva out of nervousness.

Fuck me …

𝙷𝚎 𝙵𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝙼𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙱𝚊𝚌𝚔 - 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 ５

It is finally the weekend. Dean is at home. He doesn't have shifts on Saturdays. And he's alone with Castiel in the apartment. Without a girlfriend. Alone with Castiel.

Dean feels awkward.

Since Leona broke up with him last Sunday, Dean was able to get through the week without getting weirded out by his new found feelings for Castiel since they don't see each other until dinner time every single day. Hence, Dean could keep it cool around Castiel when they are alone. But today …

Dean hardly hears the TV as his mind is solely focused on the fact that he and Castiel are stuck together for the rest of the day within the confinement of the apartment without Dean having to go out to meet anyone else other than Castiel.

It is 10AM and Dean hasn't seen Castiel yet for the day, but he is feeling nervous for unknown reasons. He keeps checking on Castiel's bedroom door in case that Castiel suddenly decided to come out and surprised him. Dean doesn't think that his racing heart can take the surprise well today.

Dean tries to calm his nerves down. He shifts his gaze to watch the Netflix one more time, and he succeeds this time around once a pretty lady appeared on his screen. Dean's body naturally relaxes on the couch as he continues watching the show alone in the living room.

"Dean." A voice echoes throughout the room, and Dean reflexively looks in that direction; and how he regrets doing so soon after.

There is Castiel, standing not too far from where Dean is - only in his towel, his hair is all dampened, and beads of water trickle down his half-naked body.

Dean couldn't take his eyes off Castiel. He unconsciously swallows down his saliva out of nervousness. Fuck me… Dean says in his head defeatedly amidst the confusion.

Castiel notices that Dean isn't responding to him although he is clearly staring at him at the moment. "Dean?" asks Castiel curiously before he slowly approaches Dean on the couch. "You alright, Dean?"

The reality slowly sinks in, and Dean finds himself facing Castiel, who is by now standing right in front of him. Dean almost croaks but immediately covers it up by clearing his throat. "'Sup?" he replies with pretense nonchalant in his tone.

"You alright? You hungry?" Castiel continues asking Dean to ensure his friend is okay. "Should I just cook breakfast for us?"

Dean cocks his eyebrows. "Ya wanna eat out?"

"If you're okay to go out." Castiel nods his head gently. "But we don't have to if you don't feel like it." Castiel keeps on nodding.

"Sure! I'll go and take a shower first." Dean literally jumps up off the couch and onto his feet before he scurries away into his own bedroom without looking at Castiel even once, leaving Castiel alone in the living room, still half naked in his towel.

________

Castiel glances over at Dean who remains silent as they drive to the nearest The Original Pancake House. Castiel tries to remember everything that has happened for the past week, trying to figure out why Dean is behaving like this today towards him. Since they briefly talked in the living room after Castiel got out of the shower, Dean hardly looks at him. His eyes are always shifty whenever Castiel talks to him. He dodges Castiel's hand contacts whenever he senses Castiel was about to touch him, even on the shoulder. Castiel tries to recall anything that may have caused the rift between him and Dean, but nothing comes to mind at all. Castiel is terribly puzzled by this riddle.

"We're here!" Dean says chirpily, causing Castiel to furrow his eyebrows even more deeply. What was that all about? Castiel asks to himself as he slowly unbuckles his seatbelt before getting out of the Impala. He keeps his eyes glaring at Dean at all times.

Dean is smiling. Why is he smiling if he's angry at me? Is he pretending to be happy right now? Castiel quietly follows Dean from behind as they enter the pancake house - instantly the smell of freshly baked pancakes hit their noses, momentarily makes Castiel forget about what he was baffled about in the first place.

"Let's sit here," Dean's voice interrupts Castiel's fantasy about the pancakes he's going to eat. Castiel obediently sits opposite to Dean after Dean has settled into his seat. "What're ya gonna have here, Cas?" Dean starts reading the menu out of habit despite he's going to order his favorite in the end.

Castiel slowly reads the menu. His eyes are scanning the menu up and down, but his thoughts are all about the unknown thing that is happening between him and Dean. He can't concentrate much with the choices of pancakes before his eyes, no matter how hungry he is right now.

"So? Whatcha havin', Cas?" Castiel looks up from the menu and sees Dean and a waiter are staring at him intensely.

"I'll …" Castiel's word trails off as he reads the menu one last time. "I'll just have what you have, Dean." He hands over the menu to the waiter with a bright smile on his face. The waiter excuses himself, and Dean and Castiel are left alone again, and Dean begins his silence act.

The pancake house is buzzing with people chatting left and right, and yet Castiel can only hear the deafening stillness between him and Dean. And Dean isn't even making any eye contacts with him. Nothing like the usual.

"Dean …" Castiel breaks the silence. Dean turns his head to look at Castiel.

"What?"

"Is there something wrong between us?"

"Wrong? Whaddya mean?" asks Dean.

"I mean… you're not talking much. You don't even look at me when you talk. You brushed off my hand when I wanted to pat your back. You're practically avoiding me right now."

Dean isn't saying anything back in response, leading to Castiel feeling more anxious about the unknown thing.

"Dean …"

Dean rubs his nape idly. "Cas… There's nothin' wrong goin' on between us, alright? Ya just bein' paranoid there," he says while flashing that goofy smile of his to Castiel. Again, Castiel doesn't buy into his act that easily.

"If there's something wrong, Dean, you need to tell me. If I did wrong to you, I'm sorry. But I do need to know why are you not talking to me much today?" Castiel begins to plead. Then, he starts to see Dean getting agitated. Dean's face has turned sour rapidly. Castiel predicts that Dean is going to blow up at anytime now.

"Dammit, Cas! What d'ya want me to say here, huh?!" Dean asks with a tone of annoyance in his voice.

Castiel is clearly taken aback by the sudden hostility from Dean, however mild it was. He bites his lips and then gets up off his seat. "I think I better let you be alone. I'll walk back home," he mumbles softly.

Out of reflex, Dean catches Castiel by the forearm, stopping Castiel from walking away, much to Castiel's surprise. Both of them are left dumbstruck by the turn of events, which causes Castiel to sit back down on his seat quietly.

No word is spoken for a good long minute afterwards. Castiel is too cautious to be meddling with Dean's thoughts, seeing the silence that has befallen between them yet again. Then, out of the blue, Dean sighs heavily and weakly nods his head. "Okay. I'll tell ya. It wasn't what ya did, Cas. It was more to - what - we talked about last Sunday night."

Castiel frowns deeply. "Last Sunday night? That night you and Leona broke up?"

"Yeah …" Dean answers slowly while rubbing the back of his neck. "It was about what she said to me that got me a lil'... weirded out right now." Dean continues explaining when he saw Castiel's scrunched up face, "We didn't break up because of somethin' Leona and I did, but more to somethin' that I was doin'."

Castiel is listening attentively to Dean's words, subconsciously staring at Dean with a piercing gaze. Dean manages to keep his composure and continues, "She said that I was… actually… havin' feelings for ya… more than I had for her…"

Feelings for me? Castiel bats his eyes a few times in order to make sure that he's not just hearing things coming out of Dean's mouth. That's what bothering him? Castiel can't help himself but rolls his eyes exasperatedly. Of course that's what bothers him the most. This is Dean we're talking about. Castiel accidentally lets out a light sigh.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Castiel glances up just to see Dean's grave expression, to which Castiel does his signature tilting-the-head-slightly.

"What's supposed to mean?" he asks Dean back.

"THAT! I've told ya about -" Dean hesitates, "- things I was feelin', and ya fuckin' SIGHED?"

Castiel frowns deeply. "What? No, Dean. I wasn't sighing because of what you just told me."

"THEN? Why the fuck did ya sigh after I told ya about my feelings?"

"I sighed because you're unbelievable, Dean. Did you think I don't know about your feelings? I KNOW ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS FOR ME, DEAN. I know ALL about it for years now," Castiel replies sharply, blocking any other retaliation from Dean who is visibly ignorant about his own feelings.

Dean is baffled by the unexpected twist. "You what?"

"I know how you feel about me, Dean. I know everything about it. And because of that, I came to love you back. Everything that you love about me, I love about them as well in you. Like I've told you that night, I LOVE YOU."

Castiel stares at Dean earnestly. "I really do love you, Dean."

Dean does nothing but gawks at Castiel without a word. Castiel gives another sigh. He reaches out his hand to hold Dean's firmly yet gently. "So, since you know about it now, please stop acting weird around me. Just stop avoiding me at all costs. It doesn't change anything, Dean. I'm still your buddy ..."

Upon hearing that, Dean's lips slowly curl to form a soft smile. Castiel gives a deep sigh of relief. Thank Jack for that! He exclaims in his heart.

"Are we good now, Dean?" Castiel squeezes Dean's hand in his, and Dean continues to smile and nod.

"Yeah. We're good now," he replies. Castiel smiles back warmly before he lets go of Dean's hand. "And now, who wants some pancakes?!" Dean beams.

#he flies me to the moon and back #destiel fic #spn fanfiction #spn #domestic!AU #fly me to the moon #supernatural fic #dean winchester #castiel #destiel fanfic #post-finale spn #spn fic #supernatural fanfiction #fanfiction.net #ao3 #spn fanfic

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ionlyreadfivebookslastweek · 5 years

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Bless The Broken Road - 31

Later in the day, a case came in.

Once the team landed in Des Moines, Iowa, Morgan and Jane got in one of the SUV’s to head to the crime scene.

Jane shifted in her seat and made a noise of discomfort.

Morgan glanced over at her. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Just sore.”

“Late night last night, huh?” he asked cheekily.

Jane chuckled. “No, that’s not why. I got a workout in this morning before work,” she explained.

“I didn’t know you worked out.”

“I started not too long ago. I go on runs with JJ and stuff.”

“And you’ve never invited me,” Morgan stated, feigning hurt.

“You seem like you’d be a little too intense for me,” she admitted.

“If JJ can keep up, so can you,” he argued.

Jane looked over at him and thought for a moment. “Alright. Sometime we can go for a run together.”

Later that night in their hotel room, Jane and Spencer were relaxing on their bed when Garcia called, wanting to talk about some wedding details.

“Jane, I need to schedule a day for you to pick out your wedding dress,” the blonde told her.

“How soon do we need to do it?” Jane asked.

“Within the next few weeks. How about not this Sunday, but the next?”

“OK.” Jane covered the phone and whispered to Spencer, “When is that?”

He smiled. “February 20th.”

She mouthed a ‘thank you’ before telling Garcia, “Let me know when you get a time scheduled so I can let my mother know.”

Spencer reached for the remote and turned on the TV, flipping through channels.

“Who else do you want to be there with you?”

“Probably just my mom, you, and JJ since Emily won’t be able to be there.”

Spencer let out a gasp and Jane looked up. He found Dr. Who on TV.

“Alrighty. And I think we should find the bridesmaid dresses that day too. Emily can send me her measurements and we can get hers as well.”

“Alright.”

Spencer leaned into her and began kissing her neck, trying to get her off the phone.

Garcia started to talk about more wedding stuff, but Jane cut her off. “Pen, can we talk about this later?”

“Oh, sure,” she agreed, a bit sad.

“I’m sorry, someone found Dr. Who on TV and is getting a little impatient to watch it.”

She heard her chuckle on the other end of the phone. “I gotcha. Talk later, bye!”

“Bye, Pen!”

~~~

For Valentine’s Day this year, Spencer and Jane decided to spend the night in, watching movies. They recalled last year’s vacation and began talking about ideas for where to go for their honeymoon.

“What if we traveled around Europe for 2 weeks?” Jane suggested.

“Hopefully Hotch would be alright with us taking that much time off,” Spencer pointed out.

“I’m sure he would be. Oh! We could visit Emily!” Jane exclaimed.

“We’ll have just seen her at the wedding,” Spencer chuckled.

“Oh, right. Well anyway, we could go to France, England, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Germany, Spain-”

“Anywhere we want really,” Spencer cut in before she could list off every country on the continent.

“Oh, it’ll be so much fun!”

~~~

Friday, February 18th.

While Spencer was outside with Shortstack, Jane received a call from her mother.

“Hey, Mom!”

“Hey, sweetheart! I was calling to see if your dad can hang out at your place while we’re at the bridal shop on Sunday.”

“You mean hang out with Spencer?” Jane asked, glancing at the door, hoping he’d be back soon.

“Yeah!”

“Umm, ok,” she finally agreed. “That should be fine.”

“OK, great! We’ll see you on Sunday! Love you.”

“Love you,” Jane repeated back before ending the call.

Spencer and Shortstack returned shortly afterward. “Hey, my mom just called,” she told him.

“Oh, and?” he asked, sensing there was more.

“My dad’s going to hang out with you while my mom is with me picking out my dress,” she shared.

His eyes widened. “Oh, I don’t know, Jane. Are you sure that’s a good idea? It’s going to be really awkward.”

“I wasn’t too fond of the idea either, but I’m sure it’ll be a good thing! You two can get to know each other a little bit better.” She walked over to him and hugged him. “It’ll be fine,” she assured him.

~~~

On Sunday, everyone met at Jane and Spencer’s apartment before heading to the bridal shop while Spencer and Jane’s dad hung back.

Hours later, Jane had found the perfect dress along with the perfect bridesmaid dresses. They headed back to the apartment and said goodbye to Jane’s parents.

When they were alone again, Jane asked Spencer, “So, how did it go with my dad?”

“Surprisingly well. We had fun,” he told her.

“Good. I’m glad,” she replied, reaching up to give him a kiss.

“How was dress shopping?” he asked when she pulled away.

“Exhausting, but great! I love the dress I picked out!”

“I can’t wait to see you in it,” Spencer smiled.

Jane smiled back and kissed him again.

~~~~~

In April, the team was hit with a tough case dealing with kids.

It was rough on the whole team, but it seemed to hit Jane more than cases dealing with kids had in the past.

When the team got back to Quantico, they still had a bit of paperwork to finish before they could go home. Jane was almost done, but couldn’t maintain her focus. She caught her self staring off into space multiple times.

“How are you doing?” JJ’s voice snapped her out of her headspace. She looked up at her and shrugged.

“I’m alright.”

“You’ve been staring at the same page for five minutes,” JJ stated, taking a seat on Jane’s desk.

“Right, ah.”

“What’s going on up there in that brain of yours?”

“How’d you do it?” Jane asked her. “Do what?”

“Get up the nerve to bring a kid into this world knowing what you know about all of the dangers that are out there,” Jane clarified.

“Well, first off, it was an accident,” JJ laughed. “I definitely didn’t plan on getting pregnant, but I don’t regret it for a second. And someday, when the timing is right, Will and I would love to have another kid.”

“Really?” Jane questioned.

“Yeah. I think being a mom is worth the risk. And you just have to remember that there are people like us who fight to protect anything from happening to people to keep them safe.”

Jane pondered what she just said before nodding. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Wait, are you...”

Jane’s eyes widened. “No! No, not right now,” she insisted. “I just, I’ve started thinking about it more lately with the wedding and all. I know Spencer’s going to want to have children, and I do too, but sometimes... I don’t know,” Jane confessed. “Plus if we have a kid, one of us is going to have to transfer to a desk job. It's not like with Shortstack where Jack can watch him or her whenever we're on a case.”

“You should talk to him about it,” JJ suggested.

“I know, but maybe not right now. I want to wait for this case to not be so fresh in my mind. Right now, I feel like I never want to have kids.”

JJ looked up behind Jane and her eyes widened. Jane turned to see Spencer approaching her from behind.

“Spence!” she exclaimed.

“I was just checking to see if you were ready to go home,” he told her.

She turned back to look at the paperwork. “Actually, I-” JJ took the paperwork from her before she could tell him she had more to do. Jane mouthed ‘thank you’ to her before turning back to Spencer. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

The ride home was completely silent.

Thoughts whirled around in Jane’s head as she wondered how much Spencer had overheard.

When they arrived home, she broke the silence. “Are you alright? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

“When were you planning on telling me?” he asked.

“How much did you hear?”

"Just the end part where you said you never want to have kids.”

Jane sighed and took his hand, leading him over to sit on the couch. “It’s not that I don’t want to have kids. It’s just that thinking about all of the horrible things that happened to those kids on our last case made me question the idea of bringing more children into the world. I was planning on talking to you about it later when the case wasn’t fresh on my mind,” she told him. “I want kids, Spence. It’s just that it’s a big decision and it’s kind of scary.”

He took her hand. “It is scary. That’s why we don’t have to do it alone. We’d be doing it together.”

The pair decided to end the discussion of kids for the night and get ready for bed. They spent the night laying in bed holding each other. The case had been rough for both of them.

~~~

Three months until the wedding, Jane and Spencer arrived home from a long day at work.

Spencer wanted to relax and cuddle on the couch, but Jane insisted that they needed to finalize the music for the wedding.

“Oh yeah, the music. Trying to dance in front of everyone we know. Lovely,” Spencer said. He’d always been insecure about his dancing.

“Spence, you and I have danced plenty of times. Besides, the first dance is slow dancing. It’s easy. Here.” She pulled up a song on her laptop that was one of the contender’s for their first dance song and hit play before guiding him into the living room.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and he placed his around her waist.

I couldn’t see how every sign pointed straight to you.

“See, this ain’t so bad. You just sway and go in a circle along to the music.”

“You’re right. Maybe this isn’t so bad,” he agreed. They continued to dance until the song ended. He leaned down and kissed her before resting his forehead against hers. “I think we just found our first dance song.”

~~~~~

A month before the wedding, JJ hosted Jane’s bridal shower. They had a beautiful lunch with the women of Jane’s family as well as the women of the BAU.

~~~~~

The Friday the week before the wedding Jane and Spencer had their respective bachelorette and bachelor parties. Before the parties, Jane and Spencer had a discussion to set limits on what could happen, assuming both parties would involve some form of strippers.

Emily flew in a few days before the bachelorette party so she could be there the whole week leading up to the wedding.

Jane, JJ, Penelope, and Emily took a quick flight to New York for the night of the bachelorette party, planning to spend the night in a hotel and then fly back the next day.

Spencer’s party remained fairly mild. Morgan knew he wouldn’t be comfortable with anything too crazy.

The girls hit up several clubs in town before heading back to the hotel room and talking through most of the night.

They got personal. Asking questions about Jane’s past sex life as well as her current relationship with Reid.

“Remember when Jane came to work one morning with a hickey on her neck?” Garcia laughed.

“What? Did you do it before work?” Emily asked, also laughing.

“Yes...in the shower,” Jane admitted, causing the girls to burst out in laughter at her flustered state.

“OK, OK, tell us this; have you ever kissed a girl before?” Garcia giggled.

Jane’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped a bit. “What? No!”

“Aw, you’re no fun,” Garcia joked.

Jane looked at the other two. Emily had a devious smirk on her face.

“Kiss me,” she told her.

“Wait, what?” Jane questioned.

“Kiss me,” Emily repeated. “Come on, you have to do something crazy at this party before you get married!”

The other two women agreed with Emily and Jane groaned. “Seriously, guys?”

“Kiss her, kiss her, kiss her,” they chanted.

“Ugh, fine!” Jane moved forward and grabbed Emily’s face, kissing her. JJ and Garcia cheered. They kissed for a while before breaking apart and looking at each other.

“Um, wow... that was actually really good,” Jane blushed.

“Right back at ya,” Emily chuckled, giving her a wink.

~~~~~~~~~~

Bless The Broken Road Masterlist

~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List:

@cynbx @neon-deanmon @drw0301bieber @notsosmartbutcute @banananna99 @lydklein1

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ellaofoakhill · 3 years

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Havel of Deeprock

Ella heard a rap on the shop door. “It’s open!” She called. She heard a click, and the tramp of work-boots.

Havel was an earth fairy with a neck nearly as broad as Ella’s waist. It was a rare fairy that approached four inches; Havel topped five.

“Good morning, Master,” he called as he set down his tools. He’d recently made a backpack to carry them, in addition to the bags he had in each hand. He would soon have more tools than Ella could easily lift.

“So, find anything for us tonight?”

“Well, there are some bits of brass the people left in the shed,” Havel said. He started twiddling his thumbs, a sure sign of nerves. “…along with some steel filings.”

“Hmm…” Ella scratched her chin. “Did you find anything in the mines?” Havel had been on a roll recently, with an entire set of copper pots and cooking utensils finished just last week. The scribing he’d done on the knives was impressive; they could hold an edge almost as well as

Ella’s. He’d earned a break from reconnaissance. And most earth fairies liked spending time underground, anyway.

Havel immediately brightened, and pulled out a beeswax tablet he’d written his notes on. “Well, there’s a garnet down North Fire shaft—”

“Spessartine?”

“Grossular, actually.” Ella gave him a thumbs-up. “And we have three large lumps of gabbro, one down East Wood shaft, and two down West Earth.”

“Ooh!” Ella resisted the urge to rub her hands together. “What’s their content?”

“Mid-grade I think,” Havel said. “I’m fairly certain I did the naming right, but you’ll want to check.”

“Of course,” Ella said, “I’m your teacher.” Havel inclined his head. Ella smiled and gave his arm a gentle slap. “Who’s hardest to extract?”

“Hmm…” Havel tapped his stylus against his broad nose. “Probably the lower gabbro in West Earth. It’s partly encased in bedrock, and wedged between a piece of granite, and a piece of limestone.”

“Still not too bad, then.” Ella started gathering her tools.

“Not like the Azurite Incident,” Havel said. Ella groaned.

The trek to the western mine took them far enough around the great panels that Havel wouldn’t feel their iron.

“How has Meline been, Master?” he asked as they reached the pines along the west edge of the yard.

“Quite well,” Ella said. She’d visited Wild Rose the previous night. Meline had shown her the western pasture up to the border of the wood, and they’d gotten into a lengthy—friendly—debate over how to properly harvest and store moonbeams, deep-black, and tree whispers. Meline favoured the crystal resonance technique, where Ella was more inclined toward the silver jar. It had been a fun exchange of ideas.

“How does she like the knife?” Ella smiled. Havel had quickly taken to Meline, and the two got along famously. Meline described him as the most adorable giant she’d ever seen, and he couldn’t get enough of her rosehip preserves. The knife in question had taken Havel a month to make, with a bronze back and a slot into which Meline could fit any of sixteen blades, depending on what she needed it for. There was even a blade with a corundum edge, with red flecks in the glittering material that made it look like it was braided. Meline had given him a kiss on both cheeks, and Havel had turned redder than a tomato.

“Last she told me, she was making good use of it,” Ella said. In addition to their visits back and forth, they were exchanging letters. Mostly they spoke of current doings, but Meline did reveal bits of her past, too. Like how her father had taught her all he knew about brewing when she was young. How her mother and she had served in the War all those millennia ago. And how the pasture had changed a great deal and hardly at all since she moved there eight hundred years past. Ella felt a warm crinkling in her chest when a letter from Meline arrived.

They passed the last of the panels. Just beyond them, the opening to West Earth shaft was covered by a thick layer of moss overlaying a limestone lid.

They checked safety equipment—helmets, vests, boots, gloves—before entering the mine. One of the higher side-tunnels had clues that a substantial creature had been living there—Ella suspected Thamnophis, though the evidence was old.

At the top of the shaft was the elevator, a cage made of reinforced bronze. Once they were inside, Ella pulled a lever, and the elevator began to drop as, some thirteen feet down, the counterweight rose.

“So where exactly is our gabbro?” Ella said. She tapped her copper helmet and spoke a word of power. It began to glow. They’d arranged crystals along the walls, which caught and reflected the light up and down the shaft.

Havel pulled out his tablet. “Sub-shaft Vy, spoke shaft Honey Yellow.”

“Bit of a haul, then,” Ella said. They’d have to take tunnel Marsh Green, then down Vy, and almost to the end of Honey Yellow.

“A bit,” Havel said.

Ella pulled the lever back when they reached Marsh Green, and got off the elevator. They’d bypassed hardpan and were into parent material. As they’d excavated, they’d shaped the shaft into an arch and lined it with stone, and Havel had used words of power to fuse the stones together. They repeated the process as they dug, every time they removed stone that wouldn’t serve another purpose. Split into blocks, carry blocks, fit blocks into place, fuse, go find new stone, repeat. Now, Havel was learning how to turn sediment into stone. He’d started with hardpan—which was practically stone already—and as his skill had grown, he’d learned how to fuse progressively coarser and finer pieces.

Sub-shaft Vy was unlined, being relatively new. The earth was stable, though, so the odds of the tunnel collapsing before they lined it were small. They descended, until the walls of the shaft changed to bedrock.

Spoke shaft Honey Yellow was named for the colour of its siltstone walls. Veins of granite, dolomite, gneiss, and other stone ran through it as well. They mined that, too, especially the granite, which had quartz crystals excellent for knives and abrasives. And, apparently, there was even the occasional hunk of gabbro.

Havel led the way along the spoke. He took a left, and then a right, and there it was. Ella unspoke the word on her helmet, and its light faded.

“Hmm,” she stepped close. It was indeed wedged between granite and limestone. She set a hand upon it, and spoke a word.

Ella’s normal vision shifted. The yellow limestone went black, and the granite turned a dull, patchy red-orange. Bits of iron in that, then.

Her attention was mostly on the gabbro. It had many clear spots of bright pink-orange, and white, and a few yellow patches, with clouds and rivulets running off in every direction. Typical gabbro. What surprised Ella was not what she saw, but where. The lights extended far back into the stone, and down, and across, almost as far as Ella could see. This wasn’t a chunk of gabbro. It was an entire layer, extending who knew how far.

She blinked, and unspoke the word. She turned to Havel. He was clearly resisting the urge to twiddle his thumbs.

“We could mine just this,” Ella said, “for six thousand years, and never come close to running out.”

It didn’t take long to mine enough stone to fill their packs. They checked each piece for quality. Havel would carry the substrate, and Ella would carry the useable ore.

They returned the way they’d come. When they came to the place in Marsh Green sub-shaft where the fused stone ended, they stopped, and unloaded Havel’s backpack. As Ella passed him stones, he spoke words of power, fusing each piece to the stone already laid down. When they finished, they split the ore in Ella’s backpack between them, and continued on their way.

“So what’re we gonna do with the metal once we smelt it?” Havel asked as the elevator took them up West Earth shaft. Planning out a new project always got him excited.

“Well, I don’t have it earmarked for anything,” Ella said. She looked sidelong at him. “Did you have any ideas?”

He flushed, rubbing his neck. “Well, uh, I’ve been meaning to try a scale belt. Or maybe a cloak clasp?”

“Oh?” Ella used her most inquiring tone. Havel flushed deeper. She shook her head as they came to the top of the shaft. “Is it for Meline?”

“Um…”

“Havel,” Ella said, struggling to find the gentlest, clearest way to say what needed to be said, “I cannot fault your taste. But… I don’t think Meline feels the same way.”

The elevator stopped. So did Havel. Ella waited. He mumbled something.

“I’m sorry?”

“I know.” his shoulders were sagging. “It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

Ella laid a hand on his elbow. Saying he was far too young for Meline would only twist the knife harder. “Loving feelings for another can hurt, when they are not returned. And hurting is a sign you are alive, Havel. If you need to fight or run a circuit about the estate, or mayb—” Her feet suddenly not touching the ground, Ella found herself crushed in arms bigger around than her thighs, as Havel’s sobs echoed off the shaft walls in a melancholy din. Wriggling so she could free up an arm, she shh’ed him, patting his shoulder as he cried into hers.

Eventually, the tide ebbed, Havel let Ella down—soggier than she had been—and he succumbed to a fit of hiccoughs. She rubbed his back in sympathy.

“Shall we eat cookies and play Jack of Spears tonight?”

“Mhmm.” Havel sniffled, took out his handkerchief and sounded a blast like a foghorn. “Maybe it’s just (hic) as well I didn’t tell her,” Havel said as he put his handkerchief away. “That would’ve made (hic) things more awkward for all of us.”

“Perhaps,” Ella said, hiding a smile; by any measure, Havel was a mature young man. “I could feign a mild ague, if you’d like some time to compose yourself.”

Havel half-smiled. “(hic) No, thank you, Master. I know how (hic) much Miss Meline likes to come here.”

“That she does.” Ella stepped out of the elevator. It was hardly a walk at all up to the hatch. “Across the pasture and the fence, into the people’s yard. Most fey wouldn’t.”

Havel grunted an affirmative. “She loves you a lot, Master.”

Ella felt like Havel had shattered a pane of glass over her head. The past several months flashed before her eyes. Every laugh, every smile, every knowing look sailing so low over Ella’s head it must’ve brushed her hair, every kiss on her cheek or her hand. All clearer than spring water.

Ella had missed all of them.

“Master?” Havel touched her dry shoulder.

Ella jumped, and wiped her eyes. “I love her too,” she almost whispered.

Havel gave a wet chuckle. “You better.” Ella chuckled, too.

They lifted the lid of the shaft and climbed out. “I think you will be ready to meet the Sage soon,” Ella said as they started back.

There was a sound like a warhorn as Havel blew his nose. “Really, Master?” He sounded happier.

“You have shown yourself to be a fairy of uncommon kindness, and you are a superior student,” Ella said. “I think he would be pleased to meet you.”

Havel didn’t skip back to Oakhill, but he wasn’t sagging either. As they drew close to the tree, he pointed. “Master, there’s a bat fluttering by the stable door.”

Ella quirked an eyebrow. There was indeed a large bat flapping about the base of Oakhill. “I wonder what she wants.” Ella called out, and the bat flew in their direction. It was a red bat, bigger than Ella, though not so big as Havel.

She had a letter in her mouth, which she transferred to one claw when she landed. “Lord Ella of Oakhill, yes?”

“I am.” Ella recognized Meline’s writing on the envelope. There was no wax seal. Odd…

“Lady fairy flagged me down as I was waking up this evening. Offered me four cutworms if I’d fly this to you. Mighty generous, if you ask me!”

Ella took the offered letter, pulled it out of the envelope, and read.

“Master?” Havel said. His tone strongly suggested he found this odd, too.

Ella froze as she read the last line. “Havel.”

“Yes?”

“I need to get to Wild Rose with all speed.” She thanked the bat, hardly noticing her anymore. “We need axes. Bring the armour as well, and the log splitter.”

“The armour?”

“There’s plastic involved.” Havel almost tripped over his feet. “I’m taking Coarser, the lance, and the spikes ahead. Come when you have everything, including provisions.” She took the fairy key from around her neck. “Lock up the hall behind you.”

On another night, Havel might’ve goggled at such responsibility. He shook himself, and snapped a crisp bow. He lumbered for the hall.

Ella put two fingers to her mouth and whistled, piercing and clear. She saw the bat was still there. “I’m to return to the young lady with your message.”

“‘I’m coming,’. Give her that message, and I’ll feed you and yours a cutworm every night for the rest of the summer.”

The bat was already in the air. “Maia Squeak at your service, ma’am!” Ella was already running for the hall. She heard a familiar whinny off to the south, and redoubled her pace.

Meline needed her.

#the fairy tales of ella and meline #tftem #havel of deeprock #chapter 9 #my original work #fantasy #lgbtq+#fairies #iyashikei #healing #fairy tales #romance #all ages #fey #fae #magic #family #strong female protagonists #backyard fantasy

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fadingemeralds · 7 years

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Pyrruby - Carving Hearts

“... so then she said “I thought it was a nice jester” but the others didn’t find it very funny I guess.” Ruby shrugged, setting down the pumpkin on the newspaper-covered table. “And that’s how we got kicked out of the venue. Weiss wasn’t happy with Yang, but I think they reconciled by now.” Pyrrha caugt herself staring a second too late to not make it awkward. She cleared her throat. “Yang seems to have a talent for that. Getting you kicked out of places, I mean.”

“Yeah… sis just has a temper. But it’s okay, most of the clubs that ban us weren’t that great to begin with. If all else fails, Blake can call her girlfriend and get us in. She owns half the town. The part that doesn’t belong to Weiss’ sister, I mean.” Ruby shot her a smile and she swore she could hear her heart skip a beat. “You can put yours down on the table too, you know”, she added as an afterthought, pointing to the pumpkin that was still comfortably nestled in her arms.

“Aren’t we gonna… crack them or something?”, Pyrrha asked, confused. It was getting a little heavy.

Ruby blinked. “You.. you don’t crack a pumpkin, Pyrrha, uhm. It’s not a coconut. Have you never carved pumpkins before?”

“I… no, actually.” She sighed. I really just wanted to spend time with you. “We never really celebrated Halloween in my family. I never went trick-or-treating and I don’t think I’d survive one of those haunted houses you guys always go to.”

Ruby was rendered speechless for a second, her mouth half-open in shock and Pyrrha briefly panicked over the possibility that she might have offended her in some way or other.

But when her lips curved into the biggest, most elated grin and her eyes got that certain glint people feared so much, she suddenly had other things to worry about.

“This is awesome! I’m gonna make this your first and best Halloween ever, we’re gonna do so much fun stuff, I can’t wait! You’ll love it, I promise.” Pyrrha had trouble holding onto the pumpkin when Ruby more or less jumped at her, hugging and twirling her around.

Her own cheeks felt flaming hot for some reason.

“Ruby - the pumpkin -”

She backed off immediately, looking a little embarrassed. “Sorry, sorry, I got a little overexcited maybe. I just love my birthday season.” She took the pumpkin from Pyrrha and set it down next to her own before grabbing one of the chairs. Once she’d taken her place, she motioned Pyrrha forward.

“Come on, I’ll show you how it works.”

Slicing the pumpkin open would’ve been less difficult if Ruby wasn’t guiding her hand, but the sensation of her skin pressed against her own, her hair brushing her cheek as she leaned over to hold the knife steady left Pyrrha tingly and warm and soft inside. And not a word left her lips.

She struggled not to let her disappointment show once Ruby was done.

“Scoop the pulp into that bowl over there, we’re going to turn it into pumpkin pie later. And we might even get to eat it if Yang doesn’t come home early”, she joked.

“Can you blame her? You’re a great baker, Ruby.”

Ruby smiled brightly and Pyrrha couldn’t help but notice the slight tinge of her cheeks under the halogen lights. Lights. Trick of the light.

“Alright, now take the marker and draw a face on the front of your pumpkin.”

She frowned. “Any face?”

“Yes. Well, it’s supposed to be scary, but you can make it friendly if you want.”

Pyrrha nodded absently, trying to draw something that looked remotely like a face. She wasn’t very good at this and it didn’t help that her eyes kept darting to the girl on her left, watching her screw her face up in concentration as she worked. It’s something she admired about Ruby. That she always put so much passion in everything she did.

Her pumpkin’s eyes weren’t the same size and his nose looked sad and crooked, but at least he had a face at all.

“Looks great, Pyrrha!”, Ruby piped before handing her a carving knife.

“Now make sure you don’t cut too close to the top or the bottom while you carve.”

Cutting out the face proved easier than expected and she actually started having fun with it - before she remembered what she had promised herself to do today.

Nervousness swept over her in a sudden, nauseating wave and the knife in her hand seemed to slip out of her grasp before she caught it with her fingertips inches away from the blade. Well, she was as good as done anyway.

Pyrrha hadn’t really planned how to go about this but she knew that if she didn’t do it soon, she’d never work up the courage again. But what to tell her? Ruby was stunning, sweet, brilliant and beautiful, she was all of these things but so much more and the sheer weight of trying to fit all of her feelings into a single sentence felt heavy on her shoulders.

Maybe she should just keep it simple. Ask her out like a normal person. After all, Jaune wouldn’t ler her hear the end of it if she messed this up. Pyrrha put down her knife.

“Ruby? There’s something I’d like to ask you.” Well, here’s your moment of truth, Pyrrha.

“Mh?” She looked up from her carving with a smile and she really wished her nerves wouldn’t start to flatter like mad just now. “What is it?”

Breathe. You can do this. You’ve done worse. “I was wondering if you would like to go out with me sometime?” The words felt rushed on her tongue, spilling onto the table in front of her as if she’d tipped over a glass of water, but she didn’t stutter, didn’t stumble, didn’t falter.

For an agonizing second, Ruby just stared at her. Pyrrha couldn’t help biting her lip. “What?”

The lump in her throat felt like ice. “A date. You and I.”

She could barely bear to look at her but she forced herself to keep her gaze steady.

Ruby cleared her throat. “I-I mean I… I’m… that’s… -” This time, Pyrrha was sure it was not just the lights that made her blush.

“It’s okay Ruby, if you don’t want to that’s totally -”

“No!”, Ruby hastily intercepted, shaking her head. “It’s not that. I just... I thought this already was... kind of... a-...a date?” She laughed nervously, looking anywhere but at her.

She frowned. Wait, what?

Pyrrha would’ve liked the world to swallow her whole. How had she misread the situation so completely? What in the world was wrong with her that she didn’t realize this earlier? “Oh”, she mumbled, averting her gaze. “Well now I feel very stupid.”

“Please don’t! I could’ve made it clearer I guess, I just.. you’re always so cool and nice and I thought you must’ve noticed for sure how much I’m into you by now and I was so happy when you accepted I kind of didn’t even stop to consider that maybe you didn’t think this was a date, so…” She trailed off, looking sheepish.

Pyrrha paused. Did she hear that right?

How much I’m into you.

Warmth unfurled in her chest, spread through her stomach into her knees and she was sure Ruby could see it on her face too but for once, she didn’t care. She liked her. Nora just lost her bet against Jaune. She liked her. How she imagined this to end, she wasn’t sure, but this felt surreal, too good to be true and if she was honest with herself, it might just be one of her favourite feelings.

She didn’t have a backup plan anyway.

Silence passed between them for a heartbeat, maybe three and when Pyrrha began to snicker, she was relieved to hear Ruby join in soon after.

“I can’t believe this was all just one big misunderstanding. I mean I was so nervous over nothing and - and now it turns out I simply misread the situation.” She shook her head in mild disbelief.

“You were nervous?” Pyrrha wanted to justify herself, but relaxed when Ruby added: “Me too.”

“Still, that doesn’t really answer my question”, she said, noticing the fresh blush colouring the other girl’s cheeks. It suited her so well.

Ruby sighed happily. “Yes, of course, I’d love to.”

Pyrrha glanced at the mismatched face of the Jack-o-Lantern before her and a giddy smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

“Ruby?”

“Mmh?”

“It already is the best Halloween ever.”

This story can also be found on AO3.

First day of spooky shorts! This was written with my friend @rampantlytyping in mind, hope you like it!

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #pyrruby #pyrrha nikos #ruby rose #pyrrha nikos x ruby rose #rwbyween #fluff #spooky shorts #spooky shorts 2017 #qley writes #txt #mine

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